Undertale: Chronicle - 6 - Armistice
by TheOriginalTale
Summary: The barrier is broken. Monsters are free. But, the celebrations can not last for long. A new wall of obstacles will present themselves. It will take great determination from all parties involved to conquer them.
1. Confrontation

_**AUTHORS NOTE**_

**Ok, so almost IMMEDIATELY following the first chapter being posted of Soulless, I decided that for the time being I would rather focus on this period in the Undertale: Chronicle timeline first. So, Soulless is on hold. Don't worry, it will be finished after Catalyst has come to a close. That's all from me!**

* * *

Another shower of embers and sparks flew up into the night air, the light of the fire dancing along the face of the mountain behind Toriel. She glanced up once more at Asgore, the king gazing into the flames. She looked away when his eyes moved to hers.

The sound of heavy footsteps on gravel thankfully distracted her. She turned as Undyne approached the couple, grunting as she carried a large stack of firewood with her, setting it down next to the already burning pile. Papyrus came running up behind her, panting.

"How are you so fast carrying all of that wood Undyne? My poor bones are aching!"

Undyne laughed heartily, giving him a playful punch in the shoulder. "Because I'm stronger than you. I'm all muscles, you're all bones!"

Papyrus huffed indignantly. "I will have you know that The Great Papyrus could beat you fair and square in any strength competition or any other contest of the sort- _HEY! _Put me down this instant!" Undyne smirked, supplexing Papyrus as he yelped.

Toriel giggled. "Easy, children, back to your corners."

She glanced over at Asgore's chuckle. Upon noticing her, Asgore cleared his throat, pretending to cough instead as he stood up. "I will be back shortly, I must check on some of the others." As he left, Undyne flopped down on the log next to Toriel.

"It's been a week since we've been freed, your majesty, when're you going to finally make up with him?"

Toriel gazed back down into the embers. "I will not. He has done things I can not bring myself to forgive. The murder of children...I find it hard to believe he is the same monster I married all those years ago."

Undyne glanced over at her. "But...you're friends with me and I've killed kids too. Why aren't you mad at me?"

Toriel scoffed. "You were just following orders, Captain. Orders that he gave you. I can not blame you for that. And please, just call me Toriel. You know that I no longer sit on the throne."

Undyne shot back. "Well, just call me Undyne then. It feels weird otherwise."

Toriel giggled again. "You are a curious one, Undyne."

Papyrus chortled from close by. "Oh, she really is, Miss Toriel. I see that Sans is still napping?"

Toriel blinked at him, glancing at Sans sleeping peacefully in the shadows. "Is he not asleep for the night?"

Papyrus rolled his eyes. "I'm afraid not. This is still his afternoon nap. I...unfortunately...have grown quite good at telling this from his posture. Such a lazy bones jones. Where is the human, Frisk?"

Toriel looked a little way down the slope at the rest of the encampment below. "He is checking on some of the other monsters, particularly those that had small children. He has done a brilliant job of aiding during the move."

Undyne sighed. "Hey, I know it might not be my place to say, but have either of you noticed something...different about him?"

Toriel peered at her curiously. "What do you mean?"

Undyne shrugged. "I dunno. It's probably just me. But he just seems...off. Distracted, you know? Ever since the barrier was broken, it almost feels like he's been trying to avoid us."

"_It is not like you were trying to kill him or anything…" _Toriel did not let the thought slip from her mouth, but still she felt it to be true.

"I have noticed this as well, especially around me. Curious, considering he knows me the best. I have tried to see what is wrong, but he has been impressively evasive."

Papyrus piped up. "Uh, how was the barrier broken, again?"

Toriel and Undyne both looked helplessly at each other. Neither of them had a clue. They had spoken about it when Frisk wasn't around, trying to find something out, but all they remembered was a golden flower, and then it all had gone white. When they woke, the barrier was gone. That was when everything had changed with Frisk. Toriel was sure the Barrier's disappearance had something to do with him, but she didn't want to push him too much, or he would just close up. She would have to give him time.

"I do not know, Papyrus, none of us do. I am afraid we may never know what happened. I suggest we get some sleep, it has been another long day."

Papyrus sighed,but flopped down next to his brother, while Undyne wandered over to a perch she had made herself in a tree close to the camp. Toriel continued to stare into the embers until she too found herself drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Frisk blinked his eyes open, groaning quietly when he saw himself not greeted by the sun, but by crickets chirping and the stars twinkling overhead. The only light came from the moon, which bathed the clearing in a crisp, soft white. The fire was almost extinguished, only a tiny trail of smoke and the occasional orange glow of a dying ember emanating from it. He pushed the blanket off as he sat up, looking around. The skeleton brothers and Toriel were still asleep, and he heard Undyne's snores from above in the tree.

Then he noticed Asgore was missing. He stood up, looking around, just in time to see a figure duck around a corner in the trail. Curious, Frisk followed Asgore up the trail, soon coming to a gap in the trees, overlooking the valley below. Asgore covered his mouth to hide his yelp as Frisk spoke up.

"What are you doing?"

Asgore turned around, calming his racing heart before responding. "Simply admiring the view…"

Frisk walked closer so he could see better. Asgore sighed. "It looks so familiar, but so different at the same time…"

Frisk nodded. "A lot can change, especially when you go away for a while."

Asgore chuckled, but it was a sad chuckle. "To tell you the truth, Frisk, I did not expect to ever see the surface again. I had lost hope. But now that I'm..._we're_ back...it almost doesn't feel right. It feels...foreign. Like we don't belong anymore. Do you know what I'm saying?"

Frisk nodded. "Yeah, I get it. Not everybody will want you back. But I'm sure a lot of people will be willing to give you another try!"

Asgore took a deep breath. "Perhaps."

It had been a week since Asriel had destroyed the barrier and gone back to being Flowey. The next few days saw a camp set up just outside the cavern's mouth, with a more private area set aside for Asgore, Frisk, and his friends. The camp was a considerable size, but there were still hundreds, even thousands of monsters that continued living below the mountain. There just wasn't enough room for all of them in the camp.

Asgore and Frisk had both been racking their brains about the best way to break the news to humanity that they had returned. There had been several ideas, all scrapped. Frisk had tried to avoid direct conversation with Toriel and Asgore. He wasn't sure how to speak to them, now that he knew their son was very much alive, but unwilling to return to the surface. He had vowed at some point to return to try and convince Flowey to give surface life a chance, but this would come later. There was too much to do right now.

Asgore's voice dragged him from his thoughts."We should both be getting back to sleep, there is much that still needs to be done."

Frisk nodded. "Yeah, right." He turned around just in time to see a figure jump from a low hanging branch. The figure was dressed in all black, a carbine rifle in his hands, a handgun and knife visible at his side. A balaclava covered the figure's face, as well as a black helmet with special night vision goggles attached to it, lowered over his eyes.

Before Frisk could react, the figure lifted the carbine rifle in his hands, aiming it at Asgore's chest. Asgore's mouth dropped open, too stunned to move. Frisk thought fast, throwing himself in front of Asgore with arms outstretched.

"Wait! Don't shoot!"

The figure shouted, and Frisk heard it was a man."Kid, move out of the way!"

Frisk shook his head, standing his ground. "No, I won't! You can't hurt him!"

Asgore gritted his teeth, growling.

The man pressed two fingers against his ear."Do you have a shot?!"

Frisk just barely heard a second voice on the earpiece, speaking loudly. "Negative! Not a clean one, at any rate!"

The man grunted, taking a step closer. "Kid, I'm here to get you out of here. Now step away from that monster, slowly. Don't worry, if he tries anything, he'll be dead before he lays a finger on you."

Frisk shook his head. "What?! No! He's my friend!"

The man scoffed. "Friend?! What are you on about?!"

Frisk stared him down. "His name is King Asgore Dreemurr! He's a very nice monster, he doesn't mean anybody any harm!"

The man tilted his head, looking confused. "Wait, so this monster _didn't_ capture you?!"

Frisk was just as shocked as Asgore. "What?! No!"

The man was deadly still, as if he was searching for something in Frisk's eyes. He then lowered the rifle, pressing two fingers to his ear again. "Stand down, stand down." He grabbed the balaclava, lifting it up to his forehead, revealing his face. Four other men appeared from the bushes around Asgore and Frisk, while two more stood up from the cliff face a little way above them. The man grunted again.

"I think there's been some kind of...misunderstanding."

"_FRISK!_" A voice shouted as footsteps bounded along the pathway.

Frisk recognized it immediately. "It's alright, Undyne! We're fine, don't do anything crazy!"

Undyne appeared a moment later with Toriel beside her.

Toriel covered her mouth when she saw the men. "Oh my!"

The men eyed Toriel and Undyne, checking they weren't threats. Undyne stalked over to the leader of the group of armed assailants, leaning towards his face.

"Who are you?! What's the big idea of trying to kill Frisk and King Asgore?!"

The man rolled his eyes and dug around in a pocket, pulling out an identification card. "Sergeant Axton Rees, commander in chief of the 2nd battalion, otherwise known as Raven Company, of the Reston Army Special Forces division."

Undyne handed it to Asgore, who looked it over before nodding. He handed it back to Axton, before reaching out his hand. "King Asgore Dreemurr, ruler of the monsters."

Axton shook his hand, looking him over. "I will admit, I have a load of questions, none of which are my place to say. What I will say is that there's going to be somebody who'll want to speak right away with you."

He reached around his back, taking out a small mobile phone he carried with him. He called a number, beginning to pace as it rang. While it rang, Toriel walked to stand next to Asgore, looking him over. "Are you alright? Did they hurt you?"

Asgore shook his head. "No, I'm fine, thanks to Frisk. So...you do still care a little bit about me." He chuckled as Toriel blushed, immediately turning away. She was rescued when Axton began to speak.

"It's Rees. Listen, you need to call Minister Hemmingway, tell him to get to Ebott as soon as possible. ...I don't care that it's nearly three in the morning! This is too important to wait. ...It's a code 1...Yeah, you heard me right. Code 1. What do you want me to do in the meantime?...Understood, sir." He hung up, nodding at the group.

"Our CO. My new orders are to make sure you don't go anywhere until the Prime Minister arrives. You have a camp close by I know, why don't we wait there?" He jerked his head in the direction of the path.

Frisk glanced nervously to Toriel, who kept him close to her, her eyes flicking suspiciously at their human escort. They knew that their return might not be welcome, but at the same time, neither of them expected that it would go just like this.


	2. Acquaintances

The following hours were filled with awkward waiting amongst the human soldiers. It didn't take long before the rest of the monster camp heard about the close encounter with Axton and his men. During the long wait, Undyne had managed to slip away, retrieving her royal guard armor.

The sun had risen and it was nearing ten in the morning when Asgore noticed a small commotion near the edge of the camp. He stood as he saw another human making his way to him. The human was just about a foot shorter than the king, his black hair combed back. He was flanked by two other men wearing suits with firearms at their hips. The human glanced at the gathered monsters as he passed them, then stopped and took a deep breath as he stood before Asgore.

"Well. I think it is safe to say that I have several questions, your majesty."

Asgore nodded. "I imagine so."

The man held out his hand. "Matthias Hemmingway, prime minister of Reston."

Asgore shook his hand. "Asgore Dreemurr, king of the monsters."

Matthias sat down on one of the logs surrounding the fire pit. Asgore took his place across from him. There was a long awkward silence as they both tried to think of where to start. Eventually it was Mathias who spoke first.

"It...no doubt was not easy for you to survive for so long. What did you all eat while you were down there?"

Asgore grunted. "One thing you humans seem to forget is that we often use magic. This helped us a great deal when we were trapped underground."

"Magic food?"

"In a sense. Eventually, we did manage to move on to more physical substances like vegetables, bread, and so on."

Matthias nodded. "I see...quite resourceful."

Undyne grunted. "When you've been sealed underground against your will you kind of have to be."

Asgore flashed her a warning glance, and she cleared her throat. "Sorry, sire."

He looked back to Mathias. "Please excuse my captain, you will understand that not all of us are...shall we say, 'pleased' to have never been able to see the surface before."

Mathias raised his hand. "It is quite alright, I understand fully."

Asgore tilted his head. "I am curious about what things have been like on the surface. Prime Minister of Reston, you said? Before we were trapped, I do not recall this, 'Reston' being present."

Mathias nodded again. "It's a bit of a long story. But to sum it up, a few decades after you were sealed, the colonies on the continent Ephin staged a revolution, forming their own nations. Back home, we did the same. The occupied territories in Eroth were the first to fall to the revolution, with Croania's monarchies collapsing soon after. Now there are twelve smaller countries around the world instead of six major kingdoms."

Asgore nodded. "I see. You humans have been busy, then."

Mathias sighed. "I suppose you could say that. How many monsters are? I hardly believe that those in this camp are the entirety of monsterkind."

Asgore grunted. "You would be correct. There are nearly a million more still sealed below. Just over 970,000 to be exact. Which brings up a burning question I have. Where are we to make our homes?"

Mathias folded his hands, resting his chin on them. "That is a difficult question to say the very least, your highness…"

Asgore looked around at the trees. "This place was once our home. A home you humans took from us. It is not even ancestral homeland to some of us. Monsters like myself and Toriel actually lived on it in our lifetime."

Mathias closed his eyes, choosing his words carefully. "I understand this, your majesty, but I cannot simply… 'give' you the land. My people would be outraged."

Asgore sighed. "Then perhaps that is a discussion to be tabled for another time. How _did_ you find out we were here anyway? Your sergeant...Axton, was it? Told us that his mission was to extract Frisk."

Mathias sat up straighter. "I read the mission file and background on the flight over. Apparently, a couple hikers happened to spot the encampment. When they saw the child, Frisk, with you, they assumed you had broken free and kidnapped him. He was reported missing a few weeks ago, you know. They turned to the local authorities, who, once they had photographic evidence, turned to a military outpost a few dozen miles away from here. They sent in Raven Company."

Asgore chuckled. "Raven Company. Quite the curious name, don't you think?"

Matthias grinned half-heartedly. "They've never failed a mission. They earned their name by working in the night on only the most extreme covert operations. Few outside the government actually know of their existence."

"I see…"

"Queen Toriel, what are your thoughts on this?"

Toriel looked up. "Hmm? Oh, please do not call me 'Queen Toriel.' I do not sit on the throne."

Mathias frowned. "But, you are married to King Asgore, are you not? You have his last name, 'Dreemurr', after all."

Toriel glanced at Asgore and nodded. "This is true, but circumstances have made it...impossible for me to keep my status on the throne. If you do not mind, it is a very personal history that I believe neither of us would rather get into."

Mathias nodded. "I understand fully." He then stood with Asgore. "I hope you don't mind, your highness, but I've instructed for a small guard to be set up around the camp. Just to ensure that there aren't people who come along to harass you. To maintain order, in a sense."

Asgore hesitated, then shook his head. "Not at all. In fact, I may assign some of my members of the Royal Guard to this guard as well. I'm sure we can easily begin forming an alliance between them."

Mathias took a deep breath. "Very well. There are other matters I need to tend to. I wish you good luck with settling in to the camp, your majesty. I will be in touch soon with when we can meet again."

Asgore nodded. "Very well. Until next time, Minister Hemmingway."

As Mathias left with his bodyguards, Undyne scoffed. "A guard set up to keep people from harassing us. Do you actually believe that?!"

Asgore shook his head. "Not in the slightest. No doubt it's to keep _us_ in check."

Undyne grunted. "I should go down there and bash his head in, teach him a thing or two."

Asgore frowned at her. "And doing so would spark another war which would lead to our own destruction. Captain, I understand your frustration, I feel it too, but we need to be patient. We knew it would not be an easy transition to the surface. At the moment, there is nothing that we can do. We are outnumbered and outgunned. We need to be patient and see what they plan to do with us. So, I am ordering you to not to do anything rash. Understood?"

Undyne grumbled. "Understood, your highness."

Asgore sighed and looked back down just as Mathias and his bodyguards disappeared into the trees.

* * *

The prime minister entered the room, footsteps echoing on the marble floor as he took his seat, eleven other men already sitting at their own chairs around the table. In front of Mathias sat a small plaque with the words "PRIME MINISTER, RESTON". He looked around at the others, as one of the men spoke. His plaque read "PRESIDENT, MESLUX"

"Well, Mathias? What was so important that it couldn't be said in a conference call? It's a long flight from Ephin as you so well know."

Mathias stood to address the table of world leaders. "I thank you all for taking the time to be here. What I have to share is highly confidential and needed to be said immediately, and a conference call would too much potential for information leaks. The...The monsters have returned."

The prime minister of Vaerin coughed, and cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, you don't mean..._those_ monsters, do you?"

Mathias nodded. "Indeed I do. I even spoke to their king earlier this morning, Asgore Dreemurr."

The prime minister of Kralum shook his head. "But...that's not possible! Asgore was still a prince during the war, over two hundred years ago! He should be dead!"

Mathias shrugged apologetically. "I would have thought so too, but evidently that is not the case. Asgore indeed lives, as do nearly a million monsters beneath Mount Ebott. I called this meeting because I think we all need to decide...well...what do we do with them?"

The president of Hocren was next to speak. "Well, you've spoken to the king. What is he like?"

Mathias thought back to the conversation several hours prior. "Surprisingly neutral. He doesn't appear to hold a grudge. The only military he spoke of was his personal Royal Guard, of which I only ever saw one member of. They certainly do not have the capacity to have a vast army in storage. So, I think it is safe to say that they do not carry a grudge, they do not want revenge, and are not much of a threat military-wise. From what Asgore implied, it appears he, and his people, simply want to move on with their lives on the surface."

Vaerin's prime minister scoffed. "You can't be serious. As if you really believe that. He's had over two hundred years to plan his return, I would be shocked if he truly didn't have ulterior motives. He _wants_ us to think they just want to move on, but I guarantee that the second we show weakness to them, they will cut us down!"

Mathias rolled his eyes. His companion was always...paranoid. "My country alone outnumbers them more than fifteen to one. I strongly doubt they would pose any threat. But say you are correct. What do you propose?"

The man leaned forward. "A secret military operation. We go in at night, no civilians have to know about it. We kill them all, then storm the caverns and make sure they never come back this time."

Mathias was shocked beyond words. Still, he kept his composure. "You must be mad! Do you not remember why we are in power to begin with?! The revolutions were because our monarchs were far too brutal on the monsters. What you are proposing is...genocide! A crime _we_ made illegal around the world! No, what I was talking about was...where do we put them? I frankly do not have room in Reston for all of them."

Estines's president sat back in her chair. "You propose a refugee or immigration program?"

Mathias nodded. "Yes, I do. We need to show these monsters compassion. They have next to nothing, after all. I believe they have suffered enough."

The president of Estines nodded in return. "I agree. But, as you very well know, such a task will be a huge hill to climb. I propose a second meeting of this sort with King Asgore present. Perhaps then we can get a better scope of what we are dealing with."

Mathias nodded. "I concur. All in favor?" Around the table, everybody raised their hands, even a reluctant prime minister of Vaerin. Mathias grinned.

"Then it is settled. We will meet at our regular time, two weeks from now." The group stood up. As they were heading for the exit, Estines' president caught up to Mathias, who sighed.

"I appreciate your assistance, it will not be an easy battle to win this time."

She sighed as well. "It never is, Mathias, but I do admire your willingness to give monsters a second chance. We all deserve one after all, do we not?"

Mathias smiled. "I suppose we do. I will see you in two weeks." With this, he turned around and left the conference room, preparing to head back home.


	3. The Conference

Asgore gazed out of the window of the car as it continued to drive down the road. Two weeks had passed since his initial meeting with Mathias, who now sat in the backseat beside him. After their first meeting, he had been informed that the leaders of the world wanted to speak personally with him at a conference. That time had now come.

He looked back through the windshield as the car rolled through two chain linked fences that had been opened up. Beyond was a vast sea of grey, enough to make Asgore's eyes widen in surprise. He had been told they would be taking a private jet to the meeting, though he had never imagined it would be located in a place like this. He had read about airports, of course, while underground, but this was his first time seeing one in person.

The car zig-zagged around the many wide taxiways, eventually stopping by a large machine sitting on the tarmac. Asgore stepped out as the car door was opened, and looked on in awe. The jet was incredibly sleek, the sun gleaming beautifully against the white paint. Undyne stepped from the car behind him. She had insisted on coming with for Asgore's protection. Seeing as it was her job, Asgore agreed to it. Mathias grinned as he looked over to him.

"First time seeing a jet in person, I assume?"

Asgore chuckled. "Indeed. Before the war, we would use monsters that could fly to get around. I don't recall any being as big as this though. Are you sure it'll be light enough to even get off the ground?"

Mathias returned the chuckle. "Don't worry, your majesty, we've come a long way in our engineering department. This bird will get us around the world if we wanted it to, it can handle a one hour flight."

Asgore and Undyne both followed Mathias towards the jet, flanked by security personnel who constantly looked around, as if somebody could possibly be hiding in the expanse of tarmac. The trio walked up the stairs and into the jet. Asgore took a seat across the aisle from Mathias, towards the middle of the plane. After some assistance from one of the human stewards, he finally managed to figure out how to put his seatbelt on.

The jet suddenly lurched forward, and a look out the window revealed that they were indeed in motion, rapidly rolling over the tarmac taxiways. From the window Asgore could see they were headed to a strip that was unbelievably long and wide. He could barely see the end of it. The jet turned left, lining itself up before it suddenly shot forward. Asgore gasped and clutched the armrest of the seat as he was pressed back against the headrest.

The jet rumbled as it thundered down the runway, and Asgore closed his eyes trying not to be sick. He felt the rumbles go away and he began to feel weightless. He dared to open one eye, and glanced out of the window to see that they were now in the air and climbing rapidly. Mathias continued to look on, amused by the king's reactions. The jet banked over to the right, and five minutes later levelled out. An announcement came over the loudspeaker that they were now free to move about the jet's cabin.

"You going to be alright?"

Asgore glanced over at the question from Mathias and nodded. "Yes, just a little bit disorientated is all."

Mathias chuckled. "You'll get used to it." Asgore sighed as he leaned back, quickly beginning to relax. Time continued to crawl on as the jet travelled through the air. Asgore finally got bored of looking at the landscape going by far below, so he looked forward. He then frowned.

In a seat near the front of the jet sat a figure in a large grey robe, a hood pulled over its head. The figure sat eerily still, staring straight ahead. Asgore knew for a fact that the figure had not been on the plane originally. He nudged Undyne who had been starting to fall asleep. She was immediately alert.

"What's wrong, sire?"

Asgore glanced over to her, then pointed subtly to the front of the plane. "Do you see that person up there? I don't remember him being here when we boarded."

Undyne followed his finger, frowning. "What person?"

"The one with the weird hood and robe at the…" He looked back up, only to see the figure was nowhere to be seen. Undyne looked over to him, waving a hand in front of his face.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

Asgore was speechless, still staring where he had seen the figure, shaking his head. "N...No, I'm fine. Must be my eyes playing tricks on me."

Undyne still looked concerned, but she leaned back again. "If you say so…"

Asgore pressed two fingers to his forehead, hoping he wasn't going crazy. He decided to go back to looking out the window, watching the landscape going by as the jet began to descend.

* * *

The king straightened his robes for the fifteenth time in the hour, standing just outside the door to the conference hall where the other world leaders were currently sitting. He glanced to Undyne, who stood just behind him.

"Stay here, captain, and...try not to cause _too_ much trouble?" He grinned cheekily at her and she simply rolled her eyes. Asgore then eased the door open, stepping into the conference hall. He slowly walked forward, looking around at the world leaders sitting behind their desks, all staring at him.

He tried to read the room before they could speak. Immediately he could tell there were severely mixed emotions amongst them. Some, like Mathias, looked cautiously optimistic. But others held looks of slight fear, while others still had looks of disdain. He took a deep breath before he was addressed by one of the leaders, the Prime Minister of Yokall.

"Greetings, King Asgore. We do appreciate you for taking the time to join us today. I imagine you are finding yourself quite busy with...recent events."

Asgore took a deep breath, trying to keep a straight face. "It is my pleasure to be here. While busy, such an important meeting takes priority in my mind."

The man from Yokall spoke again. "There is much that we need to discuss. I think it is safe to assume many monsters are still living beneath the mountain despite the barrier being destroyed, and they would like to return to the surface with the others in the camp just outside Mount Ebott. Correct?"

Asgore glanced to Mathias, knowing he must have told this to the other leaders. He answered plainly. "Yes."

The Yokall Prime Minister nodded. "As I thought. Might I ask, where were you hoping to live?"

Asgore sighed. "I was hoping we would be able to live close to Mount Ebott, and maybe have enough land given to us so that we can rebuild our nation."

The man nodded again, but slowly. "I see...I'm not quite sure this will ever be possible. From my understanding, there just simply isn't the room for another nation. The best we will be able to offer you for the time being is citizenship for the country Reston, and others for monsters that prefer so to move elsewhere."

Asgore felt a frown growing on his face. "I think you fail to understand, Prime Minister, that this is land that was forcefully taken from us. We were driven out of our homes, and forced to watch as everything we knew and loved was reduced to ash. This is land that has been our ancestral homeland for thousands of years. To some, it is not even ancestral; I myself lived on the very land Reston sits on, as prince. My father, King Asgrid, died trying to defend it."

The man tried to speak again. "I...understand this, but-"

Asgore cut him off. "I was not finished, minister. Imagine that one day, all your enemies suddenly struck your nation, without any mercy. They slaughtered everything in their path. Every man, woman, child, the old, the sick, and the weak, no compassion to be found. You were sent into exile. Then, centuries later, you returned. Would you not want to live in what was once yours?"

He realized he would not be able to break free from the topic, so the man sighed, and nodded. "...I suppose I would, yes."

Asgore shrugged, having proven his point. "Then what is so different about us? When it comes down to it, we are not very different, monsters and humans. I believe it is fear that is making you make these decisions."

The president of Estines leaned forward, furrowing her brow. "What makes you believe this?"

Asgore chuckled. "It is so plainly obvious. I could feel the tension rise the moment I set foot in this room. I can see the anxiety in the eyes of many of you here, even you, President of Estines. What I want to know is, what are you afraid of? Even at full strength, our kind did not stand a chance in the war. But now we return, weaker than ever, and you are still afraid! My question is, why?" She looked down, and Asgore noticed several of the leaders now trying to not meet his gaze. He knew he had struck a nerve. The Vaerin Prime Minister cleared his throat.

"Perhaps this exact subject of living conditions should be tabled for...future discussions.

Asgore sighed, seeing he would get no further. "Very well."

The prime minister of Yokall spoke again. "Your majesty, this has been a rather…'enlightening' discussion. Now if you would please, we have other matters to discuss today as well."

Asgore knew what was going to happen. He would leave, and they would continue to discuss their fate. But, what could he do about it? He gave in.

"I understand. I want to assure you all though, we do not mean you any harm. We were a peaceful species before, and we remain to be peaceful now. We simply want to live our lives out in peace." With this, he turned, robe fluttering behind him as he walked out of the conference hall.


	4. A Curious Human

Asgore sighed as he walked back up the narrow trail through the forest surrounding Ebott Mountain. There had been almost no conversation between Matthias and himself on the flight back. Undyne followed close behind him as they closed in on the camp. The car had driven them as close as it could before the dirt roads became too tight to properly fit through.

As they neared the edge of the camp, Asgore could hear a slight commotion with one of the guards. He and Undyne exchanged a glance before picking up the pace. Soon, Asgore saw the guard arguing with a young woman at the camp entrance.

"For the last damn time, I'm not letting you in!"

"Could you at least tell me why not?! I've come so far to see him!"

The guard pulled back the hammer on his rifle, loading a round into the guns chamber. "That is classified. I have my orders not to let any outsiders in. Now are you going to leave? Or am I going to have to place you under arrest?"

Asgore approached, another big frown on his face. "What's all this about?"

The woman whirled around, staring in awe at him. Before she could speak though, the guard groaned, clearly tired with having to deal with this. It was evident they had been going at it for some time.

"This woman has been…'remarkably' persistent. You do not need to concern yourself, she was just leaving."

Asgore tipped his head. "Just one moment. What does she want?"

He rolled his eyes. "Some journalist, nothing important."

Asgore shrugged. "Well, if it is nothing important, then I do not see a problem with allowing her in. I will be happy to answer any questions she has."

The guard was still uncertain. "I don't know…"

The king sighed. "I am a king, son. A very old one at that. I know how to read people well enough to know immediately if they are a threat or not. And I for one see nothing wrong with her, though I appreciate your thoughts. Now!" He turned to the visitor. "Follow me, please."

She squeaked. "Oh! Okay…" They walked past the guard who shook his head, into the camp. Undyne walked beside Asgore on his right, the young woman on the left. Asgore glanced over to their visitor.

"You've come a long way, you say?"

She shook her head, rubbing the back of her skull. "Not exactly...I...I'm actually from the town of Ebott, just a little ways south from here."

Asgore chuckled. "I thought so. You are a journalist, hmm? Are you with a newspaper? Or one of those...news networks I've read about?"

She shook her head again. "Again, not exactly. I'm nobody special, just a college student. This stuff is for a blog I have."

Asgore glanced over to her. "A...blog? Forgive me, you will have to inform me as to what a 'blog' is. I am still unfamiliar with several of your more...modern terms and technologies."

She grinned. "It's no problem, your majesty. Basically a blog is an online journal. I started it up as soon as I heard that you monsters had escaped the Underground. I want to find out what I can about your kind, and put it on the internet."

Asgore nodded slowly. "I see. So you are wanting to conduct, interviews, hmm? I will be more than happy to answer any questions you have. Oh, but first, I do not believe I ever got your name."

The woman's eyes widened. "O-Oh! I apologize your majesty. My name is Kayla."

Asgore reached out, shaking her hand. "Well, Kayla, it is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Asgore Dreemurr, king of the monsters." They soon reached the edge of the camp on the mountainside, sitting down around the firepit, currently not in use.

"So, where shall we start?"

Kayla reached into a bag she carried with her, pulling out a journal and a pen.

She glanced over at Undyne who stood with folded arms beside Asgore before speaking. "Well, you are the ruler of these monsters, so I suppose I should start with...what are your main goals now that you've freed your people?"

Asgore leaned back. He didn't expect such a big question so soon. "I suppose...my first main goal is to help my people become more accustomed to surface life, and establish a new home for us all. The other would be to integrate more into today's modern human societies."

"I see...do you think these goals will be easy to achieve?"

"Not in the slightest. I'm more than aware that not all humans will welcome us back. Though I hope dearly that with time, we can eventually all return to being friends."

Kayla looked up at him. "If it's alright with you, your majesty, could I wander around and talk to some of the other monsters? I want to also get the opinions of more...ordinary people."

Asgore grinned. "It is no problem at all. In fact, I know the perfect monster you can talk to! Captain, you haven't seen Gerson around by any chance, have you?"

Undyne shook her head. "Not today, but I'm pretty sure he's around here somewhere."

Asgore grunted as he stood up, spotting Toriel approach. "Excellent. Why don't you take our visitor and go see if you can find him?"

Undyne sighed, but nodded and began to lead Kayla away. Toriel watched her descend into the main part of the camp before looking to Asgore.

"Who was that?"

Asgore continued to watch her. "A small journalist, not affiliated with the larger portion of the media. She is curious about our way of life, so I told her she can come in and ask around. Perhaps us being more open would help relations to improve quicker."

"Speaking of which, how did the conference go?"

Asgore shook his head with a sigh. "Could have gone better."

"Oh?"

"Yes. From the looks of it, they're not going to be willing to give us our land back anytime soon. They said the best thing they can offer us is 'citizenship' for Reston for now."

Toriel was shocked. "Surely they cannot do that! This is our rightful home!"

Asgore shook his head mournfully. "I tried to explain that to them, but they just aren't willing to listen. Besides, it is not as though we can do much about it. As much as I hate to admit it, our hands are tied."

Toriel sighed. "I do hope that things will improve…"

Asgore nodded. "You and me both…"

Meanwhile, Undyne and Kayla were wandering amongst the tents, searching for the monster called Gerson. At last, Kayla spotted Undyne suddenly call out, waving an arm. A turtle monster began to hobble over to them, walking with a cane. He was dressed in green explorer's clothes with a bit of a funny hat. A small white beard hung from his chin. The turtle chuckled heartily as he approached them.

"Well! I haven't seen you in some time Miss. Vernilot! As I understand it, you've been busy!"

Undyne smirked. "Oh, yeah. Real busy. Hey Gerson, this is a reporter that wanted to speak to you. She's curious about...I dunno, our history I guess."

Kayla waved shyly, speaking quietly. "Hi, I'm Kayla."

Gerson chuckled. "Pleasure to meet you, Kayla! Ah'll be happy to answer your questions, but you will need to speak up. These old ears ain't as good as they used to be, heheh."

Undyne rolled her eyes, walking back to Asgore, leaving Kayla alone with Gerson. She already had her journal at the ready. "King Asgore informed me you were a good monster to talk to. I'm wondering about what life was like below the mountain."

Gerson tilted his head. "Oh? Well I can tell you, it's nothing special, much less pleasant. Why do you want to know about that?"

Kayla shrugged. "Curiosity, I guess. It might help as well for humans to hear what it was like to live in solitude for so long."

Gerson huffed. "Alrighty, come with me."

He began hobbling towards the cave's mouth a little ways away. Kayla quickly caught up with him. "Where are you going?"

He chuckled again. "Why, my home of course! In the Underground. Ah'll say one thing, Asgore was right to send you to me for a little history lesson."

Kayla smiled. "Oh? Might I ask why?"

The turtle grunted. "Ah'm the oldest monster alive! Heck, I'm nearly a century older than Asgore himself."

She blinked in surprise. "Oh? How old are you? If I'm not being rude in, asking of course."

Gerson took a deep breath. "Let me tell you, I'm far too old. Ah'll be 326 years old soon. Born all the way back in 1691, still over a hundred years before the war."

Kayla stopped, her mouth falling open in shock. "326 years old?!"

Gerson nodded. "Oh, yes. I have seen a great deal of things in my lifetime."

She quickly caught back up to him, as they began walking slowly into the dark caves. "So, we're going to your home?"

"Sure are. There are some things my old mind does not remember, but once we arrive, I will tell you everything you wish to know." They continued to walk further and further into the caverns. Soon she found herself wandering through what seemed to be hallways, and then felt grass on her feet. She looked around at the abandoned throne room.

Gerson explained. "The exit to the Underground was connected right to Asgore's palace. He spent much of his time here in the palace."

She nodded in fascination as she was guided through the large hallways of the palace. She felt as if she had been whisked in a time machine centuries back. She was even more surprised when they exited the palace as she saw monsters still milling around the streets underground.

"I thought everybody was on the surface?"

Gerson shook his head. "Oh, not even close. What is up there is just a very, very small portion of how great our numbers really are. There isn't enough room for everybody in the camp, which is why you only see large families and uh, elderly folk such as myself. People that might need more help, y'know?"

Kayla nodded slowly. She noticed several of the monsters gazing curiously at her in a wide mixture of emotions. She felt as if she didn't belong here. A thought came to her. "_Is this what it feels like to now be a monster on the surface?"_ She made a mental note to mark down the thought later on. Gerson eventually reached one of the many buildings, pushing open the door. Kayla followed him inside, looking around.

She was standing in a humble shop, filled with various trinkets displayed in a disorganized manner. Gerson wandered to the back where a flight of stairs waited.

Kayla was immediately concerned. "Do you need help getting up?"

Gerson grunted as he began to ascend them, though very slowly. "I have been through things you could only imagine. I believe I can manage a measly staircase."

Kayla mumbled under her breath. "If you say so…" She followed him up the stairs, ready in case he fell backwards. Once up he made his way over to a small living room, motioning to one of the two armchairs with a coffee table between them. She took her seat, watching as Gerson wandered to a bookcase, pulling down some old books, blowing dust off of them. He brought them back and set them down on the coffee table. He groaned, clearly tired as he sat down in his own chair.

"Those are journals of mine that I have written over the centuries. They can come in handy, since my memory is so foggy."

Kayla nodded, eyeing the journals. Curiosity burned inside her, wanting to read the contents over and over again.

She began the conversation. "I suppose to start with, what was your life like before...being sealed Underground?"

Gerson closed his eyes. "I was a captain in the Royal Guard. Some of the younger folk had a name for me. 'Gerson, The Hammer Of Justice.' I wore that name, and my title proudly." He motioned to a suit of armor sitting on a stand in the corner. Kayla gazed at it, wondering how she didn't notice it when she entered. She noticed there were spots on the shoulders where pauldrons must have sat.

"Was there anything else to that suit of armor?" Gerson nodded. "A cape, yes, there used to be a cape. I gave that away a long, long time ago. A really pleasant child, a skeleton I believe. Eh, what was his name? Pa...Papyrus I believe."

Kayla nodded, looking back. "Captain of the guard. Sounds like a pretty important job. After being sealed, what did you do?"

"Heh, I was let off of the guard. Everybody was. Asgore didn't see a use for it anymore. Most of the members went on to become construction workers. Myself? Why, I became an explorer!"

Kayla tipped her head. "An explorer? But wasn't the entire region under the mountain already known?"

Gerson nodded. "Sure was. But, that does not mean it did not hold secrets. Take the ruins, for instance. They lay at the far end of the Underground, veeeeeery mysterious, yes. Nobody knows how old they are, nobody knows where they came from. The writings there are written in a long dead language, though it seems to prophesize something. What, I could only guess. But, some say that those ruins are as old as time itself. I often brought back small objects, clay pots and so on from my expeditions, those are what I sold in here."

Kayla nodded. "From the looks of things, you've been a bit busy."

"One could say that, heh."

"Well, now that you're free...what do you intend on doing now? Do you want to explore the world?"

Gerson sighed, though it carried a hint of sadness. "If I was younger, that is what I would long to do. Alas, I am no longer the young Testodata I once was. Frankly, I don't think I've got much time left in me at all. I wish to spend my final days in the sun on the surface."

Kayla smiled warmly. "It sounds peaceful."

Gerson blinked. "I've had a very...difficult lifetime shall we say. Some peace...that is all I need…" She noticed a bit of a starry look appear in Gerson's gaze as he began daydreaming. Kayla could only guess what. He suddenly snapped back to the present, and the two resumed their conversation.

They spoke for several hours, going back and forth with different stories about their lives, and by the end, both had become good friends. When the time came to leave, Kayla stood up, and Gerson chuckled.

"Say, Miss Kayla, you don't suppose you'd be able to help this old fool stand up, would you? These tired bones tend to fall asleep haha!"

Kayla giggled. "Of course I can."

She walked to him, helping him stand up, making sure he was steady before letting go. Then the two began to leave, making their way back to the surface.

* * *

Toriel sat with Undyne and Asgore as the sun crested over the sky towards the horizon. There had been silence for some time amongst the group. There was nothing to say. Undyne suddenly grew rigid and her eyes widened. Asgore looked over to her.

"Yes, captain?"

Undyne barked. "That journalist!"

Toriel tilted her head. "Yes, what of her?"

Undyne turned to both of them. "She's going to come up here and write what she's heard. Right? Well that'll mean more humans will come around and start poking around. What if they find...you know..._those_?"

Asgore's eyes widened in horror as he realized exactly what he was talking about. "Oh my...we must act quickly then."

He stood up, and Toriel stood with him, grabbing his shoulder. "Asgore, what are you going to do?"

Asgore gritted his teeth. "Hide the evidence, before somebody finds it. If the humans discover what...what happened...then every attempt we make at restoring peace will be for nothing."

As much as Toriel hated to admit it, he was right. She sighed with an inward groan. "Oooooh, alright. But do be careful!" Asgore then left with Undyne, making sure the dark secret would never be found.


	5. Returning Home

Mathias sat with Toriel close to the fire pit where they had first met, sighing as he looked towards the setting sun. He glanced to the right as footsteps approached, with Sans and Papyrus wandering over to them, Frisk between them. Mathias nodded in approval. Toriel had sent the two skelebros to fetch Frisk when Mathias arrived. He had told her he had something important to address regarding Frisk. Now they just needed to wait for Asgore and Undyne to return.

Toriel fidgeted uncomfortably. She didn't like having to lie to a man in such a high position. She had told them that Asgore was merely off dealing with an urgent matter that arose Underground and would be back shortly, then she tried to console herself. That was _technically_ the truth, wasn't it? She was saved from her thoughts as Asgore approached the group, with no Undyne. Toriel's inquisitive gaze asked the question for her, to which Asgore responded.

"Captain Undyne has left to tend to smaller matters. It is good to see you, Minister Hemmingway, to what do we owe the pleasure?"

Mathias leaned forward, clasping his hands. He would have to choose his words carefully. "I think it is time that we address what is no doubt going to be a rather...tricky subject regarding Frisk. In particular, where he will be living."

Frisk instinctively moved closer to Toriel, already realizing where this conversation would lead. Toriel subtly positioned herself between Frisk and Mathias.

"Oh?"

Mathias nodded. "Indeed. I am not sure if Frisk has told you, but he has been living at the Ebott orphanage for the better part of his life. As he is officially registered there, that is his legal home. As such, it is time for him to return to that home."

Asgore's eyes widened. While he was more focused on other matters than being Frisk's caretaker, he was certainly shocked Mathias would want to take him away from Toriel.

Toriel was livid. "You cannot do that! He has a loving home with myself! You said so yourself that he lives at an orphanage where he has no biological family!"

Mathias tried to persuade her. "I understand this Mrs. Dreemurr-"

"_MISS _Dreemurr, minister."

The word felt like a punch to Asgore.

Mathias cleared his throat. "Of course, I apologize, Miss Dreemurr. But as you are not his legal guardian, you are not allowed to keep Frisk as your adopted child! In fact, based on how long this has been the case already, by law you could be arrested for kidnapping! I am not doing this, of course, because it is evident that you did not kidnap him in the slightest, but the law will not see it that way."

Toriel was still fuming. Sans glanced over, noticing Frisk getting more and more distressed behind Toriel.

"Well, then I shall adopt him. He has told me himself that he wants to stay with me!"

Mathias held his hands up, looking more helpless by the second. "It isn't that simple! You would need to first become citizens of Reston which of course will still take some time to arrange, and even after that there is a lot of paperwork to be filled, not to mention, if the courts decide a monster is not a suitable parent for a human child, they will still deny the request!"

Toriel scoffed. "You are the leader of the country, Minister. Do you not control the courts? The laws? What is stopping you from doing this?"

Mathias pressed a finger to his forehead. "I am the Prime Minister, Miss. Dreemurr, but I am not all-powerful. I am not a king. There are now votes that need to take place, and people to consult. I am sorry, but this has to happen for the greater good."

"th'greater good, huh?" Frisk looked over at Sans as he stood up, wandering to the center of the group. Mathias looked down at him as Sans met his gaze.

"so, the greater good is takin' the kid away from the only family he's ever really had? listen, buddy, i really wanna like you. but right now, you're makin' it real hard for me to do that. can't'cha let this one slide?" Mathias stiffened as one of Sans's eyes started to glow a bright blue. "Or are we going to have ourselves a bad time?"

Frisk ran in front of Toriel and Sans, shouting at everybody present, "Stop it! Stop fighting with each other!"

They all looked to Frisk. The glow in Sans's eye died as quickly as it had appeared as he took a step back. Toriel looked away in embarrassment, not aware of how alarmed she had made Frisk feel.

Frisk huffed. "We'll never get anywhere if all we do is fight with each other. Can't we just...get along?" He looked to Mathias. "Are you sure there's nothing you can do? Toriel's the closest person to a Mom I've ever had, and the closest I'll probably have. These are my closest friends."

Mathias's expression softened, but still he stood his ground, shaking his head. "I wish there was, Frisk, I really do. But if I were to make this one exception for you, my career might come into question, and I could be replaced by someone that isn't as lenient to monsters. Don't worry, you will still be able to visit your friends here every day. I can even arrange for somebody to give you a ride to and from the camp if you want. You just won't be living with them."

Frisk sighed. It would have to do. At least he was still able to see them. "Alright…"

Mathias turned his gaze to Toriel. "I promise you, once monsters have their citizenship, I will help you personally to adopt Frisk."

Asgore growled. "How long will it take to gain citizenship, _Minister_? Since it's clear you won't be letting us rebuild our nation."

Mathias suddenly realized his slip-up, and once again began to choose his words cautiously. "I am doing what I can, your highness, but there are still many terms that need to be covered. It will be some time yet but I am working on this whenever I can. I do not want trouble between our two races. I think we can agree that there has been quite enough of that over the centuries. As always, I will be in touch when we can meet next."

Asgore grunted. "Good."

Frisk ran to Toriel, giving her a big hug, before doing the same to Sans, and a weeping Papyrus, though Frisk felt he was being a touch dramatic. Frisk chuckled sadly.

"Hey, don't cry, Papyrus. I'll still visit you guys, you'll see me again tomorrow."

Papyrus sniffled, wiping his nose. "A...Alrighty. Sleep well, little human." His look became determined. "If you have any bad dreams while you are away from us, alert me at once! I will make sure they never return! Nyeh-heh-heh!"

Frisk smiled as he let go of Papyrus, waving goodbye as he followed Mathias out of the camp. They walked down towards the car waiting at the end of the small dirt road, with Frisk climbing into the back with Mathias.

As they set off, Frisk asked: "Why _can't_ you just make it happen? Who needs to vote?"

Mathias sighed, trying his best to explain. "Well, first the monsters need to gain citizenship. To do that, I need to put forward a bill to the Reston Parliament, who vote on it. If they vote in its favor, then the monsters will have citizenship, but if they don't, they need to remain in their camp. Now, there are a lot of details you needn't concern yourself with that need to be established before I can put this bill forward, and even then there are no guarantees they will vote in favor. I am sorry, Frisk, but it is out of my hands. We have this system in place to make sure I can't just abuse my power like the kings of old did."

Frisk mumbled. "Guess that makes sense. Doesn't make it fair though."

Mathias looked down. "I'm not going to say I know how you feel, but I understand why you think that. Life is seldom fair to any of us, I'm afraid. I'm just sorry you had to get caught up in the middle of all this. A child like you shouldn't have to go through something like this."

Frisk thought to himself. "_You don't know the worst part about it…"_ He didn't dare to say the words aloud. There was an uncomfortable silence as the dirt road turned to concrete. The car proceeded into the quiet pleasant town. Soon after this, the car stopped in front of the orphanage. Frisk stepped out with Mathias. The prime minister stood by the curb while Frisk walked up to the door, giving it a knock.

Sheila, the woman running the orphanage, gasped when she saw Frisk. "Oh my God, Frisk! You _are_ alive!" She quickly gave Frisk a hug, ushering him quickly inside. She waved to the minister who stepped back into the car before closing the door. She cupped Frisk's cheeks.

"Are you alright? Did those monsters hurt you?"

Frisk shook her off. "I'm fine! They were really nice to me."

Isaac, one of the other young boys at the orphanage, poked his head around the corner, shouting "YO! Guys! Frisk's back!" Within seconds Frisk was overwhelmed by the six other children staying at the orphanage. They bombarded him with question after question, never giving him time to answer any of them. Sheila stepped in, pulling them apart.

"Children! _Children!_ Manners, please! I'm sure Frisk is far too tired to answer any questions for now. We should let him get a proper sleep. You can ask him your questions in the morning." As they slowly disperse, Frisk pushed past Sheila, mumbling a small 'thanks' as he passed her. He walked to the room he shared with Isaac, climbing up onto the top bunk of the bunk bed where he laid down, staring at the ceiling.

Once again, he felt himself trapped by the lonely walls of the orphanage. He shook his head slowly, trying to console himself by whispering quietly, "I can still see them in the morning…" Despite the repetition, it did nothing to cheer him up. He continued repeating the phrase until he drifted off to sleep.


	6. The Riverperson

Frisk slid down from the bunk bed, landing on his feet. He yawned as he walked downstairs, heading to the small kitchen to fix himself a bowl of cereal. While he was eating, Isaac ran down the stairs, entering the kitchen. Frisk glanced up at him once, then back down to the bowl as the spoon rummaged through the frosted flakes. Isaac sat across the table from him.

"Dude, what happened to you? I mean, you go up on that mountain and just vanish without a trace? Then all of a sudden you reappear with all those monsters?"

Frisk glanced up again. "You know about the monsters?"

Isaac laughed. "'Course I do! Everybody does! Kind of a big secret to keep. Besides, after that blog post went up everybody kind of went nuts."

Frisk was more curious now. "A blog post? By who?"

Isaac shrugged. "Somebody named Kayla. You still haven't answered my question though. What happened to you?"

Frisk sighed, pushing the now empty bowl away. "It's a bit of a long story. But to sum it up, I actually fell down. Through a massive hole. I tripped over a root that I didn't notice. A really kind monster helped me out, so I stayed with her for a couple weeks. Then I decided to go help free the monsters from the Underground." He kept his words vague, not wanting to go into too much detail about the...finer points of his journey. Isaac looked disappointed.

"Oh. That's...not nearly as exciting as I thought it'd be."

Frisk scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, sorry."

Isaac looked up. "Well, you think I can go see them? You know, before the news people decide to flood the place."

Frisk shrugged. "I don't see why not."

They both stood up from the table, and Frisk spied Sheila as he was throwing on his shoes.

"Hey, Isaac and I are going to go to the monster camp to visit them."

Sheila gave them a tight smile, concern evident in her eyes. "Oh, Frisk...are...are you sure that's a wise idea?"

Frisk rolled his eyes. "They're my friends. They saved my life, for crying out loud."

Sheila searched his eyes, then slowly nodded. "Alright...but...please, do be careful."

He sighed. "I will, I will. C'mon, Isaac."

Isaac quickly followed him out of the orphanage. Frisk led him down the road, heading back to the forest by the mountain. It didn't take long before he found the dirt road leading away from the town of Ebott and up its namesake. Isaac followed him as they walked along the side of the dusty path as it took them further and further up. Finally the road narrowed down into a small footpath. The echoes of the waking town behind them died away and were quickly replaced with the sounds of the waking camp just up ahead.

Then the camp came into view. Frisk walked through the entrance, while Isaac glanced at one of the guards, a large husky that met his gaze as he followed Frisk in. He looked around in amazement. Admittedly, he had a hard time believing the rumors, but now he understood that they were not rumors at all. Frisk continued to walk through the many tents, giving Isaac a little tour. Suddenly a voice cried out, making them both jump.

"FRISK! You have returned at last!" They heard footsteps scampering towards them and Frisk gasped as Papyrus wrapped his arms around Frisk, squeezing him tightly.

"The Great Papyrus has missed you so, did you have any dreadful nightmares?!"

Frisk wheezed. "No Papyrus, I didn't...can you please put me down…"

Papyrus dropped Frisk, rattling his bones. "Oh dearie me! I do apologize human. Oh! You have a friend! Who are you, Frisk's friend?"

While Frisk recovered, getting his breath back, Isaac waved. "I'm Isaac."

Papyrus threw his chest out. "Well, Isaac, it is a great pleasure to meet you!"

Frisk whispered to Isaac, able to tell he was a little unsure about a skeleton talking to him. "Don't worry, he's really harmless."

Sans wandered up behind Papyrus, nodding at Frisk and Isaac. "'ey, kiddo. how's it going?"

Frisk shrugged. "Alright, I guess."

Sans nodded. "i see. who's your friend?"

Frisk grinned. "That's Isaac."

Sans nodded nonchalantly. "oh, hey isaac. heheh… my bro yells loud enough to wake the dead, huh? sure woke me up. "

Isaac blinked, raising a finger. "Was...was that a pun?"

Papyrus groaned. "Unfortunately. I do wish he would put a bit more 'backbone' into his jokes."

The four continued to discuss, with jokes flying left and right. It hadn't taken long for Isaac to warm up to the skelebros, but soon something caught Frisk's eye and he glanced away to see what it was. He frowned.

A hooded figure stood up on a plateau overlooking the camp, staring down, but no matter how hard he looked he couldn't see a face beneath the hood. He couldn't see anything, for that matter, it just looked like a floating cloak, yet he could practically feel its gaze fixated on himself.

He blinked once, and all of the sudden the hooded figure was gone.

He jumped as Sans waved a hand in front of his face. He quickly looked around, seeing their faces all focused on him now, looking concerned.

Frisk nodded. "Uh, sorry. I was just distracted by something."

Isaac nodded. "No kidding! What were you looking at?"

Frisk was unsure whether to tell them or not, but he decided to anyway. "Just some weird guy in a hood up on that plateau over there. He, or it, was staring at me, I think."

Sans glanced up to the plateau, seeing nothing. He tilted his head. "er, you sure you're alright, buddy?"

Frisk nodded. "Yeah! He was right up there! Did none of you see him?"

The three all shook their heads. Frisk took a deep breath, but then noticed Sans's gaze looking different from the others. He kept glancing back up to the plateau and back. A look in his eyes told Frisk that there was something on his mind. He spoke up.

"Hey, Sans...can I...talk to you for a moment?"

He nodded. "sure, kid." They stepped away from the others.

"Sans, you've got to believe me there was a person up there. It couldn't have been a hallucination."

Sans stuff his hands in his hoodie pockets. "i'm not saying i didn't. o'm as confused as you are."

Frisk frowned. "Why? What's up?"

Sans huffed. "you said it was a hooded figure, right? didja see a face, or anything at all?"

Frisk shook his head. "No...it was a bit unnerving to be honest."

Sans nodded. "gotcha. well, i do know someone that sounds like that.. he's called the riverperson. he kind of just...showed up in the underground, a long time ago. he never stepped on dry land, only ever stay on 'is boat…" He added on quietly. "could have sworn I saw that boat with legs once or twice…" He then shook his head. "anyway, this riverperson takes monsters from one place to another on the boat, faster than the trip should take them. but what's stranger is that everybody says the same thing thing about 'im: he doesn't take them where they want to go, he takes them where they 'need' to go."

Frisk frowned again. "Weird...why do you look so concerned about it?"

Sans huffed. "i've always been suspicious of him. i don't like people that don't show their real faces. usually means they've got somethin' to hide. i've been monitoring him for a while but...i haven't been able to find anything. just doesn't sit right, ya know?"

Frisk glanced back up to the plateau. "Well, if he only ever stays with his boat in the underground rivers...why is he up here?"

Sans added on. "yeah, and, why isn't he with his boat? that's what's got me confused. and even weirder, you said he was staring at _you_. why? there's too much we don't know here."

Frisk sighed. "Yeah...I see your point by it all being a bit funny."

Sans nodded. "yeah. so just...keep an eye open for him, alright? dunno what he's up to, probably ain't good."

Frisk glanced back, seeing the lights gone from Sans's eyes. "Er...yeah...sure...I'll look out for him."

Sans turned around, walking back to Papyrus, leaving Frisk gazing around, a cold shiver running down his spine.

* * *

The River Person hummed a morose and quiet tune, peaceful like the lapping waves, as they neared the water's edge and their boat rose from the water. Without missing a beat, he stepped aboard.

"Everything is still on course. The tidal wave begins to swell." His song echoed off the cavern walls of the Underground as he sailed down the boat, then suddenly veered down beyond the twisting tunnels of Waterfall into more tumultuous waters.

"That's a familiar tune… Asgore used to hum it to his son."

"Ah, the tragic Doctor Gaster."

Standing in the dark shore was a tall skeletal figure. The Riverperson's boat came to a stop, the doglike figurehead twisting to face the Doctor.

"How are they?" he asked.

"All according to plan, no thanks to your creation, and little to stop it now. Simple patience is required as the stream erodes the rocky shore."

"I still wish there were a better way… But it is too late, isn't it." The Doctor sighed. "I can only wish them the best."

"The best, the worst, what matters is the end. The grand design. Your big brain still thinks too small, dear Doctor. Small minds are what ruin it all past, present, and future. Small minds, quick judgements, flaring tempers…and the little ruinations are what lead them down the darkest depths, all to plan, tralala...Again and again."


	7. Ancient Wounds

Frisk walked through the back door of the gymnasium to where Asgore waited with Toriel, Undyne, and Mathias. A television sat mounted on the wall, showing a stage prepared beyond a waiting door, set up hours prior. The room past it was flooded with news reporters and cameras, packed about as full as it could possibly be.

Asgore nodded to Frisk with a warm smile as he entered. Frisk noticed how the golden pauldrons sitting on the shoulders of his royal robes gleamed in the light, showing they had been freshly polished. Toriel looked on with excitement, while Undyne held a neutral and reserved look firmly plastered to her face.

Mathias looked over to Asgore. "Are we ready?"

Asgore took a deep breath. "I believe so."

With another small adjustment of his tie, Mathias nodded to each of them in turn before walking through the door, onto the stage. The din in the gymnasium quickly grew quiet as Mathias stepped up onto the podium, the forest of microphones on the podium pointed at his face.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I appreciate you all for taking the time to be here. By now I am sure you all are aware of the nature of this press conference. There was a rumor started that the monsters, believed to be deceased beneath Mount Ebott have returned. Well, these are not rumors, but are indeed true."

Murmurs began amongst the reporters.

Mathias raised a hand to silence them. "I am sure that you all have several questions, but I am not at liberty to answer them. Instead, I will leave the answering to the leader of these monsters. Ladies and gentlemen of the press, I am pleased to announce his majesty, King Asgore Dreemurr."

Mathias stepped aside and shocked mumbling broke out as Asgore walked through the door with Undyne. Undyne took a position a short ways behind Asgore, while the king stood at the podium, surveying the audience.

He cleared his throat. "It is a pleasure for me to be here, thank you Prime Minister Hemmingway." He nodded at Mathias. Immediately the crowd exploded into questions. Asgore was overwhelmed, and he pointed at one person at random.

She called out, "What are your thoughts about being back on the surface, your majesty?"

Asgore took a deep breath, placing his hands on the sides of the podium. "I must say, the world is a very different one in comparison to when I left. But I think it is safe to say that I am extremely glad to be back on the surface, as are my people."

Another question shot up immediately after. "It was my, well, our understanding, that there was a magic barrier sealing the monsters underground, and that there were extremely precise parameters that needed to be met for this barrier to break. Were these...parameters met?"

Asgore knew what the real meaning behind the question was. "_Did you kill anybody?"_ He was cautious in his answer.

"To be perfectly honest, we are not sure. We did not have seven human souls in our possession, as such no monster could have absorbed them. It is as big of a mystery to us as it is for you."

"Are you investigating its disappearance?"

Asgore paused again. "It is...shall we say, on my list of things to do. Right now though, it is the least of my concerns."

Another question came from the back of the room. "Is it true that there was a military operation staged in regards to a kidnapped human child?"

Asgore glanced to Mathias, before responding. "...No comment."

There were further murmurs, before another voice called out.

"Do you still harbor feelings of resentment towards humanity for the actions taken against you and your people in 1811?"

Asgore looked down, meeting the reporter's gaze. "That is...an interesting question. Might I ask for the reason behind it?"

The reporter shrugged. "Well, the humans of that time overreacted to the monsters kingdom's aggressiveness. People are wondering if you are the one that believes in the phrase 'An eye for an eye'?"

Frisk frowned as he heard the question. Monster aggressiveness, what was he talking about? He noticed Toriel getting a bit more anxious beside him as she shifted nervously.

Asgore replied. "I...see. I do believe that the actions taken by the kingdoms were...uncalled for. While monsters were not necessarily in the right, we certainly did not deserve to be exterminated. While I understand that some humans may feel differently, these are simply my feelings on the matter. However...I also believe that the humans of today should not be judged for something their ancestors have done. You were not alive then. You had no say. So that is how I will treat it. What happened, happened."

"Your highness! What do you intend on doing with the monster artifacts being kept at the Reston National Musem of History in Slagos? Will you be working to retrieve them?"

Asgore frowned. "I was not aware any monster artifacts had survived the war, apart from those taken underground with us. Perhaps I will need to make a visit before I decide what to do."

One more question came up. "Where do monsters intend on living?"

Asgore glanced again to Mathias before looking down at the podium, then back up. "This is still being negotiated. No further questions, please." But questions continued to fly as Mathias stepped up to the podium again, speaking over the crowd.

"This press conference is concluded, thank you for your attendance!" He then retired to the back room with Asgore.

"Well! That went about as could be expected."

Asgore nodded. "Indeed. I must say, you humans do like asking questions without easy answers."

Mathias sighed. "Trust me, you are not who gets that treatment."

Asgore chuckled. "Good to know. Well. Shall we go?"

Mathias nodded, folding his hands behind his back. "Yes, let's. Frisk? Will you be joining us?"

Frisk shrugged. "Sure! Where are we going?"

Asgore chuckled. "The ruins of the old monster capital."

Frisk was instantly excited as he climbed into the back of a car with Toriel. He had heard all about the famed ruins, but he had never been able to visit them himself. Now, he would see them with a monster that had actually lived in them! Still, as the car set off, one question was on his mind.

"The monster kingdom's aggressiveness, Toriel? What was he talking about? I thought the monsters didn't do anything wrong! That's what the writings Underground said at least."

Toriel sighed. "It is a very complicated story, Frisk. You would not understand it right now. I will explain it all to you when you are older. For now though, please remember that there needs to always be at least two sides to start a war. There was no innocent party, despite what people tell you."

Frisk nodded, growing quiet as he gazed out the window. An hour and a half went by as they drove along the small streets leading over to the ruins. Eventually the road ended in a tiny parking lot. Frisk and Toriel stepped out, along with Asgore and Mathias. Thick clouds had covered the sky by now, and a thin mist had descended on the field ahead of them.

Frisk followed the three adults as they picked their way along the overgrown trail, soon coming up on a large patch of stones. Then there was another, and another. Soon the stones began to resemble buildings, and Frisk realized they were now in the old city. Bits of black wood lay strewn on the ground, though not much was left from the centuries-old war. Now, most of the ruins were made up of foundations. He found his mood turning grim as they walked through the eerie mist. Looming ahead he saw a huge shape rise out of the mist.

He tugged on Toriel's robe. "Is that the old palace?"

Toriel nodded, speaking quietly. "It is. Asgore used to live there as a child."

Asgore had managed to get further ahead as they walked into the run-down courtyard of the palace by the steps leading upwards. They all stopped as ahead of them, Asgore dropped down to one knee, resting a hand against his head. Frisk started to walk forward to see if he was alright, but Toriel pulled him back. Mathias had a somber look on his face.

Frisk looked up to Toriel. "Is he alright?"

Toriel nodded sadly. "He just needs some time. He told me about the siege. This courtyard was where his father, Asgrid, fought King Berinon face-to-face. He watched as his own father, and then his mother, were killed on the ground we stand upon now."

Frisk nodded with understanding, looking down at the ground. He had never seen Asgore look so broken before. He had never gotten a chance to meet his parents, but to watch them die in front of you? He couldn't even begin to imagine how painful that would feel. Asgore stood up, and the trio rejoined him.

Toriel put a hand on his shoulder. "Will you be okay?"

Frisk glanced up, seeing the streak of a tear on Asgore's face as he nodded. "I will."

They proceeded into the palace, wandering the massive broken halls. The sky was visible through missing pieces of roof above them, long since fallen down. Asgore suddenly frowned as he spotted a familiar hood at the end of the hall, kneeling over a piece of debris. An eerily familiar tune hummed down the halls. Toriel didn't react to it, though Frisk wasn't sure why- it was plain to see and hear.

Asgore called out. "Hello!"

Mathias gave him a weird look as the figure stood up. "Who are you calling?"

Frisk stared at him in amazement. "You don't…?"

Asgore picked up the pace. "Hello?!"

The figure glanced towards them, and Frisk recognized it as the Riverperson Sans told him about. Asgore broke into a run as the figure calmly walked into one of the rooms splitting off from the hallway. Asgore followed him in, but the figure had disappeared. Toriel and Mathias both looked mystified as they followed Asgore into the room.

Toriel was now especially concerned. "Asgore, are you sure you are alright?"

Frisk whirled around on them. "Didn't you see him?! The weird hooded guy at the end of the hall? He walked into this room!"

Mathias exchanged a confused glance. "We didn't see anybody, child."

Frisk spun around, searching. "But he was...he was here…" Another look around showed they must be in the old throne room. The room had faded decor on the walls and marble floors. He was still amazed at how big it was.

Mathias sighed. "The rain will be coming soon, we best be leaving."

Asgore nodded, still distracted as he turned around. Frisk took one last look around the room before following them out. However, he still failed to see the Riverperson staring down at them through a hole in the roof.


	8. The Crown In the Case

The group of cars continued to drive through the tight streets of Slagos, turning at almost every intersection. Frisk gazed around at the skyscrapers around him, having never seen buildings so tall in person. Beside him, Asgore glanced occasionally out of the windows. They were on their way to the Reston National Museum of History. Asgore still remembered what convinced him to come out here; a small conversation with Gerson just two days after the press conference.

"Yer majesty! I-I have something that might interest ya," he had begun. "Kayla, that lovely girl that interviewed me a while ago, has just informed me of a museum with a lot of old monster artifacts preserved from the war! I feel it might be wise to pay this museum a visit."

Asgore had agreed to it, and Mathias had immediately made the arrangements. Now they were just minutes away from it. The two cars pulled into the parking lot. Asgore, Mathias, and Frisk stepped out of the first one, and Asgore walked to the other car, helping Gerson out of the other car with Kayla. Gerson grunted as he stood on his feet, his cane wobbling slightly. The group began to walk into the museum.

The museum's director had already ensured the other visitors had vacated the building, so they could have some peace. Frisk looked around at the dozens of articles and displays scattered in a chaotic, clean order. Mathias guided them through the many halls of the building, before finally coming to the entrance of the museum's prized exhibit, the monster kingdoms. Mathias nodded at them, then stood back to give them some space as the rest of them entered.

Gerson placed one of his hands behind his back as he looked around at some of the weapons on display. Most of the monsters had used magical weapons, and he was one of the few that had not. Asgore, meanwhile, went further ahead as the treasures became more elegant with time. Frisk gasped in amazement. Some of the artifacts were made out of gold, others were goblets made of silver. It would appear that the monster kingdoms had once been incredibly wealthy.

Asgore paused up ahead. When the three caught up with him, they saw he was staring up at a painting, a scowl on his face. Kayla looked over at the painting. It depicted two grown monsters with an uncanny similarity to Asgore, with what Frisk assumed was a younger version of Asgore standing in front of them. Those must have been his parents. Then Frisk understood what was upsetting him. This must have been stolen straight from the palace on the day Ebott fell.

Asgore abruptly turned away, heading onwards. In time, Frisk realized each artifact held its own story, with its own place in the much bigger picture. Gerson's brow furrowed as they continued to gaze around at the objects. Finally, they came to the prized possession of the museum. A golden crown, decorated with glimmering rubies and emeralds sitting in a glass display case, roped off from the rest of the hall. They all moved around it, Frisk glancing into the eyes of everybody else. He grew worried as he heard a growl emanate from Asgore's throat.

"The royal crown of Paral. My father wore this same crown as he was slaughtered with my mother in the final hour of the Siege of Ebott. My coronation was never complete, it was one of the things we were unable to rescue as we fled."

Kayla glanced over to him. "This one is much more...personal to you, then?"

Gerson looked up at her with a solemn yet frustrated stare. "This was forged to crown the great Ausgrid Dreemurr, the first ever king of Paral. It had been passed down to his son Asgrid, but Asgore, despite being the rightful ruler, has never had the honor of wearing it on his head. This is our tradition Kayla, it does not belong in a museum. None of these things do. They belong with _us_."

Kayla nodded, looking down as Gerson continued. "A museum is made to display the past. Whether it be recent, or ancient. As you can see, though, we are not past. We are very much here. After what you humans did to us all those years ago...dare I say it, you do not _deserve_ to hold these things hostage in your possession."

Kayla opened her mouth, yet no words emerged. She had nothing to say. Gerson was right in every sense of the word. They continued to stare at the elegant crown sitting in the display case. Frisk glanced up at the crown currently sitting on Asgore's head, noting the differences immediately. It did not look nearly as beautiful as the one on display before them. It must have been made after they were driven underground. Soon, they continued to set off.

They had hardly taken a few steps though before Gerson began coughing, the fit growing more violent by the minute. He doubled over and his cane fell to the floor. Frisk raced forward, placing his hands on Gerson to help steady him as Asgore whirled around. The old turtle continued to wheeze and cough, but finally grew still, shivering slightly.

Asgore's angry look was replaced with worry. "Are you alright Gerson?"

Gerson grunted, clearing his throat. "Q...Quite fine yer majesty...just a c...coughing spell. They're getting m-more frequent these days."

Asgore nodded slowly. Kayla stooped down, picking up Gerson's cane and helping him to place his weight on it again.

Asgore sighed. "We should probably go, seems your body's had enough for one day, my friend." He patted Gerson tenderly on the shoulder, slowly turning him around to walk them out. Frisk paused though at one last display. A large mirror mounted up on the wall. He shrugged, going to investigate the mirror with its gilded border. He stood in front of it, and found himself frozen.

He didn't see himself in the mirror, he found someone else staring back at him. She wore a green and yellow striped shirt, with brown pants. The shirt looked eerily similar to the one Asriel had worn when Frisk saw him, just after the barrier was broken. Then, the person waved. Frisk snapped, immediately running away from the mirror to rejoin the others.

Kayla tipped her head. "You alright Frisk? You look like you've seen a ghost!"

Frisk shivered and Asgore glanced over at him. But none of them would believe him, so he simply nodded.

"Y-Yeah! Yeah I'm fine. Just a bit cold is all." He glanced behind once more at the crown in the display case as they hobbled out of the exhibit.

* * *

Frisk shook his head as he continued staring up at the ceiling. He glanced over at a digital clock on the shelf below, watching as it clicked over to 2:48 AM. He sighed, sitting up. He had gotten no sleep, his mind focused on the figure he had seen in place of his reflection at the museum earlier that day. He found it hard to concentrate on anything else. He swung his feet over the bed, jumping down. Maybe a quick walk would work. He found his feet guiding him outside to the backyard. He gazed up at the twinkling stars above, wondering if there was some kind of message hidden in them. It was just a random thought to try and get his mind off of the mysterious girl.

"Greetings."

Frisk jumped as he heard a voice, spinning around before jumping again. The same girl was sitting at a small table outside for barbecues. Frisk was cautious.

"Hi...you're...the same girl I saw in my reflection at the museum...who are you?"

The girl shrugged. "I am surprised you have yet to figured it out, what with your intelligence. I am Chara. It is a pleasure to meet you, Frisk."

Frisk's mind flashed back to when he was speaking with Asriel some weeks ago. "_YOU'RE _Chara?! Asriel's adopted sister?"

She raised her hands. "The one and only."

Frisk was now mystified. He walked over to her, sitting down across the table. "How is this possible? You're...you're dead!"

Chara nodded. "Yes. I am. That has not changed. You have heard of Determination, correct?"

Frisk nodded and Chara continued. "Yes. Well, I possess a fair sum as well. Enough to keep me from fully 'dying', but not enough to allow me to reset like you can. And so I found myself…existing in a limbo. But. Your power, your Determination, appears to have brought me back. As far as I can discern I am a part of you."

Frisk laughed. "This is incredible! We should tell Asgore and Toriel, they'd be overjoyed to see you!"

Chara shook her head sadly. "As much as I wish we could tell them, we cannot. Frisk, only you can see me. Only you can hear me. Nobody else can. I now exist only in your mind."

Frisk looked down. "Oh."

Chara looked around. "So… How are things? The Surface has changed dramatically from my time amongst the living."

Frisk shrugged. "Things are going alright...Asgore revealed the monsters in a press conference which went pretty well, he's trying to find where monsters can live, we visited the ruins and the museum today and you...already know all of this."

Chara giggled, an amused smile on her face. "Indeed I do." Her face turned serious. "And what of Asriel? Have you seen him since he...well. You know."

Frisk nodded in understanding. "I know what you mean. I haven't seen or heard any sign of him in weeks. I think he's just kind of laying low right now, letting things run their course."

Chara nodded, staring down at the table.

Frisk huffed. "So, how long will this...thing between us stay a thing?"

She shrugged. "Perhaps a week. A month. A year. Or even an eternity. I have no idea."

An idea formed in his head. "Do you think maybe Alphys could find a way to use your consciousness in my mind to bring you back to life?!"

She shook her head. "Not possible. We are well past that stage I fear." There was silence before she stood up. "Well, I shall take my leave and allow you your rest. We shall speak later, partner."

Frisk nodded. "Yeah...talk to you later…"

She stood up, took one step before vanishing from view. Frisk shook his head quickly, before walking back into the house, with more questions than when we left it.


	9. Reservations

The king grunted as he stepped out of the car, nodding at the agent holding the door open for him. He followed a second agent up the steps of the meeting hall situated on the outskirts of Ebott. His footsteps echoed through the large room as he entered the auditorium, blinking in surprise at Mathias, seeing he already had a visitor.

"Minister Hemmingway," Asgore nodded, as did Mathias. Asgore approached, eyeing their guest. "You did not tell me you were bringing the president of Estines to speak with us as well."

The president spoke, "Mathias thought it would be a good idea for me to attend this meeting today given the subject matter. Oh, and please, just call me Kara."

Asgore froze when Kara said her name. It sounded all too similar to another name he kept buried deep inside of him.

Mathias frowned. "Is something wrong your majesty?"

Asgore shook his head, snapping out of his trance. "Ah, no. Nothing at all. Your name just reminded me of...someone close I knew a long time ago."

Kara nodded. "I understand, sorry."

Asgore nodded before taking his seat with the other two.

Mathias opened up the meeting. "So to my knowledge, we are here today to discuss allowing monsters to integrate further into human society."

Asgore nodded. "This is as I understood it as well. Are you certain that it is not possible to be given land so we may instead re-establish our kingdom?"

Mathias looked down at the desk. "I am afraid so. As you might be aware, the human population has grown significantly since those days, and frankly we are unable to spare the room."

Asgore huffed. "So, what are you proposing?"

The prime minister clasped his hands. "I am in the process of writing up a bill to put forward to the Reston Parliament, known simply as 'The Monster Act.' If they vote in favor of the bill, then it means that all monsters will become full citizens of Reston, and will be treated as such. You will be able to live peaceful, normal lives in my nation."

Asgore narrowed his eyes. "But in doing so, I would need to abdicate the throne. I am certainly aware there cannot be two leaders of your nation, and I can assure you minister, I do not intend on abdicating any time soon."

Mathias sighed. "I thought you might say that, which brings me to the details of this act." He took a copy of the paperwork out, handing it to Asgore. While he looked it over, Mathias continued to explain.

"You would be given a portion of land near Ebott to make your homes. A monster reserve. Here you would be able to establish your own micro-government under my own. While on the reserve, monsters and humans would need to abide by your laws and treat you as the rightful king. However, while off the reserve, they are held accountable by the nation of Reston and the laws we abide by. That includes you, your majesty, unless of course you are leaving on official business."

Asgore nodded numbly. He didn't think it was entirely fair, but he could tell it was the best he was going to get. "Where would this…'reserve' be located?"

Mathias shrugged. "I was considering the old ruins. It would give you a chance to rebuild the city, maybe restore it to its former glory."

Asgore shook his head. "No. I am sorry minister, but that place holds too many painful memories. I would prefer it if it remained as it is. I want to move on from the past, but I still feel like the ruins should be there as a reminder of what happened."

Both leaders nodded, and Mathias spoke. "I understand. Going forward we can discuss where this reserve will be located."

Asgore was still hesitant as he slid the paperwork back to Mathias. "Even if you give us our own...place to live, it would not be big enough for all of us! You must remember we have hundreds of thousands of monsters still below ground because there is no room in our current surface camp! For us to live on the surface while so many others continue to live below ground, isolated, is unbelievably cruel!"

Kara smiled as she leaned forward. "That is where I come in, your majesty. Mathias and I have both been discussing this...unusual situation since you presented yourself before the other world leaders. He has made it very clear that there is not enough room within his borders for all of you to be on the surface. However, I have a solution."

She pulled out her own papers, handing them to the king. "What I am proposing is a refugee program for monsters that cannot live within Reston's borders. I am working on getting as many nations as possible to join the program. We would provide safe means of transportation to bring monsters elsewhere, where they would be placed in refugee camps, which would maybe in time become more reserves.

"Now, I understand these are your people, so what I also propose is to set up regional governors amongst the monsters, that have direct lines of contact with yourself, so you can still remain king over your subjects no matter where they are in the world."

Asgore took a deep breath, scratching his chin as he looked over every letter on the papers. Finally he returned them to Kara. "I will allow it. But, when it comes to the locations of these reserves elsewhere and their conditions, I want to be consulted over every detail."

Kara nodded. "Of course."

Matthias could tell something was bothering him. "Is something on your mind, your highness?"

Asgore nodded. "Yes. You will forgive me for seeming...reluctant, but it sounds to me as though you are trying to split us all up and keep us under careful observation, to ensure we cannot try and plot anything. Am I right?"

His thoughts were confirmed when he received only uncomfortable looks.

Asgore lowered his tone as he leaned forward now. "How do I know that once we are all split apart, you will not send in your armies to exterminate us like vermin? Not much was there to prevent you from doing so the first time, and there is even less in the way now. In fact, minister, as I recall it, it was one of _your_ elite military companies that nearly shot me on the mountain when we first emerged."

Mathias sighed heavily. "I understand your concerns, your majesty. Regarding the incident with yourself and Frisk, that operation was launched because we had thought you had kidnapped Frisk. If you will also remember, they decided to stand down when Frisk corrected them. That whole mess was a misunderstanding. I am well aware of our capabilities to inflict damage on you and your people, your majesty, which is why I am telling, you would know that if I wanted you gone. I would have acted a long time ago. I believe we can both coexist in this world."

"..." Asgore stared him in the eye, trying to search for anything that might betray Mathias's thoughts, but there was nothing. So, he instead nodded. "Very well. There was...one other matter I wished to discuss with you."

Mathias tilted his head. "And that matter is?"

Asgore sat back again. "The monster artifacts from the museum. I know I am not the only one who believes they do not belong in your possession. They belong to us, the people that own them. I want to personally reclaim them for our kind."

The prime minister looked hesitant. "Your majesty, that will take considerable time. For one, we need to get the citizenship bill passed first before you can legally take possession of them. For another, we would need to ship other artifacts in from other parts of the world. There are other artifacts in museums closer to the old capitals of the fallen kingdoms Tarus and Zekar, as well."

Asgore grunted. "I do not care how long it takes, so long as it is done."

There was a moment of silence before Mathias nodded. "I see. Well, this can certainly be arranged then. Like other matters, I will arrange the details before going over them with you."

The king stood up, as did Kara and Mathias. Kara smiled. "Well! I think this was a rather...productive meeting."

Asgore nodded. "Indeed. I will speak to you both next time." With this he turned to the car which waited to take him back to the camp. The car had just barely set off before his phone began ringing. He pulled it from his pocket. He hadn't had much use for it, it had been a gift to him from Alphys only a few years prior. Nobody had called him on it until now. He fumbled helplessly with the buttons on it before finding the one to answer the call. He put it to his ear.

"King Asgore. Who am I speaking with?"

A familiar voice answered him. "It is me, Gorey."

He chuckled. "Toriel. You haven't used that name in some time."

Her voice grew defensive. "Well, it has been a rather interesting few weeks. Are you still in your meeting?"

"No, we just finished up. I am on my way back."

"I see. Any progress?"

"Some. I have confirmed we will be able to retrieve our artifacts. As for where we are to live...that will still take some...negotiating."

"Are you going to re-establish a kingdom?"

"...Not exactly. I will let you know of the details when I return."

"Alright. I will speak to you soon."

"Farewell Tori."

"Don't, 'Tori' me." The line went dead, but Asgore heard the playful tone in her voice before she hung up. He smiled. It had been some time since he had heard it. The phone rang again, and he once more put it to his ear.

"Miss speaking to me already?"

He frowned as he was greeted with static over the phone. Through the static, he could hear a whisper speaking to him. "Greetings Asgore Dreemurr."

Asgore leaned forward in the car seat. "Who is this?"

"...A friend."

Asgore's frown deepened as the voice continued to speak.

"Meet me where the old river flows. Talk soon...friend." Then, the line went dead again.

Asgore slowly let the phone rest in his lap, staring at the screen. The car continued to rumble along the country road, while Asgore racked his perplexed brain.


	10. A Friend

Asgore huffed, leaning over against the face of the mountain as he caught his breath. The sun was beginning to set, and up above the stars twinkled in the sky. He gazed up at them. Above the treeline, everything seemed so much more open. He realized he had not yet been able to truly appreciate the beauty of them in the weeks they had been back on the surface. He shook his head in utter amazement.

"The stars are one of the only things that haven't changed up here…"

A voice from behind startled him. "The stars were once used to light the way for distant travellers. It is fitting that our path be the only thing that does not change in this beautiful world."

Asgore spun around, finding himself face-to-face with the hooded figure. Asgore blinked in surprise. "You!"

The hooded figure stared at him, and the king shivered when he saw no face beneath the hood, just the blackness of a void.

"You were on the jet when I went to speak to the world leaders...and you were in the ruins going into the throne room. Who are you? Why are you following me?"

The hooded figure chuckled. "It is as I said earlier today, Asgore Dreemurr. I am a friend. I suppose you can call me, the River Person. It is what everybody else calls me, at any rate."

Asgore eyed the River Person cautiously. "What do you want from me?"

"It is not what I want 'from' you Asgore, it is what you are going to want from me," the River Person replied.

Asgore growled. "I would watch your tongue if I were you. I am a king, what makes you think I would want anything of you?"

The River Person shook his head. "Oh yes, a king. I am so aware. You mortals are certainly interesting, always so quick to label each other with meaningless titles. In the end, are you not all one and the same? That is what you are trying to prove to humanity after all, if I am not mistaken."

Asgore tried to think of a rebuttal, but paused when he realized that the River Person was correct.

The hooded figure turned around. "Come, come! There is something I wish to show you."

Asgore glanced down the mountain, considering just leaving the mysterious person on his own. But something told him that what the figure had to say was important. So, he began to follow the River Person further up the mountain. The sun had fully set by the time they were close to the summit. The River Person paused and stepped back, nodding at a crack in the rocks. Asgore glanced at the hood, then summoned a small fireball, letting it strike the stone. He shielded his eyes as dust rose from the tiny explosion. The River Person calmly led the way inside.

As Asgore followed him in, the River Person spoke, "You have heard of the legend about Xavier the Raven, yes?"

Asgore nodded. "Everybody has, but nobody dares utter it. I know enough to know that it was no legend. Xavier was the first monster to absorb the soul of a human being."

The River Person chuckled. "I am glad to see somebody was paying attention in history class. These ancient caverns are the very caverns that Xavier absorbed the soul in. Much history lies within these walls. Tell me, what do you know about the ruins of the Underground?"

Asgore had burning questions, wanting to know desperately why he was being grilled about ancient history. "Not much. All I know is that these ruins are beyond ancient. There were old even when the Paral kingdom was first established. That's...all I know about them really."

The River Person sighed. "Oh, Asgore, these ruins hold secrets you could not begin to comprehend. Secrets that might be enough to drive some people insane. Look around you."

Asgore summoned a fireball, gazing around at the walls illuminated a bright orange. He began to notice a pattern in the scrawlings. Beside each one was a picture. He frowned deeply when he saw a face resembling his own drawn on to the walls, surrounded by other unfamiliar heads.

"Who are they?"

The River Person came to stand beside him. "They are the key players in the game, decided for their roles before time was a concept. They continue to watch over the playing board from afar."

Asgore's brow furrowed. "What 'game?'"

"Asgore, you are disappointing me. You are asking the wrong questions."

He continued to look over the walls, then spied two faces he recognized. The first, was a skeletal figure with cracks in its skull. It appeared to be an old friend from long ago. His voice was barely a whisper.

"Dings?"

A second face drew his face away from Gaster's image. A human head, one of a child. It looked exactly like Frisk.

He turned on the River Person. "What is this?"

The hooded figure shook his head. "I cannot give you all the answers, Asgore Dreemurr. I can, however, lay the pieces in front of you."

Asgore growled. "Alright...what 'game' am I playing?"

The River Person chuckled. "There. You see? Now you are starting to ask the right questions. Now, I must make my leave. Ta ta!"

Asgore stared in befuddlement as the River Person began to walk away. As Asgore turned to leave, he heard the figure humming a familiar melody. It was one he sang to his son, as his father had sung to him.

He turned back around. "Hey How did-"

But there was nothing. The River Person had vanished into thin air, leaving the hum's echo bouncing off the walls. After another uneasy glance at the images, Asgore began to head for the exit.

Meanwhile close by, Sans watched on from the darkness, tucking his hands deeper into his hoodie pockets.

"_somethin's going on here, and i don't like not knowing what it is," _he thought. He glanced once more at the familiar mural, before turning around, walking into the shadows.

* * *

Frisk sighed as he walked into the bedroom, climbing up onto the ledge by the windowsill, gazing out at the twilight. Isaac was at a sleepover with one of his friends, leaving Frisk all alone, though he did not remain so for long.

"Chara."

Chara's reflection replaced his own in the window. "Hello, partner."

There was silence between the two of them. But, eventually Frisk asked the burning question.

"Why did you do it?"

Chara put on an innocent look. "Do what?"

Frisk rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean. Poison yourself? Get Asriel to absorb your soul?"

Chara grunted, looking away. "Humanity is a disease, Frisk, though I do not expect you to understand that. They had to be eradicated once and for all. But, Asriel fought against my control."

Frisk scoffed. "Can you blame him? He went up there to save monsters by freeing them. He never wanted to kill everybody."

Chara grunted. "That is not how it works, Frisk. It is kill or be killed in this world."

Frisk began to raise his voice. "What happened to you?! Nobody gets those kind of thoughts unless _something_ happened. So, what's your story?"

Chara shook her head. "My first family were not good people, Frisk. They were the ones that gave me that mindset. I had heard about the 'War For Humanity' as they call it...my parents only ever spoke negatively of monsters. And myself...about everything. To be honest. One day, they discussed being rid of me. Calling me a waste of time…" Chara's voice trailed off.

Frisk leaned forward. "Chara...what did you do?"

Chara spat back. "What I had to do! Understood?! It was them or me! From then on, I knew there was only one definite truth in this world. Kill. Or be killed. Until I met _them_. They...They made me feel like I mattered again, Frisk. They convinced me I was worth something. But I knew that once they escaped, humanity would destroy them. So I knew that humanity had to be destroyed first."

Frisk sighed. "Well, monsters are on the surface now...do you still believe the humans want to hurt them? To me it seems like they really want to help!"

Chara narrowed her eyes. "Do you truly believe that, Frisk? Look around you! There is tension everywhere. Even if that prime minister allows them to be citizens, things will not improve."

Frisk shrugged. "Well, maybe we need to just help make it easier for them."

Chara scoffed. "Yes. Of course. Inform me how well that works out for you."

Frisk opened his mouth, but Chara's reflection vanished. He knew that she would refuse to speak to him.

Sheila peered through the half-open door. "Frisk? Who are you talking to?"

Frisk glanced over. "Hmm? Oh, nobody. Just myself."

Sheila smiled softly, then Frisk continued to speak. "Look...I know you don't really trust the monsters, but can you just try and give them a chance? They haven't done anything wrong. They've been nothing but kind to me and every other human so far."

Sheila sighed. "It's complicated, child. I suppose with the history...it is hard to believe what others say, hmm?"

Frisk grunted. "Yeah, well stories can be wrong."

Sheila closed her eyes, shaking her head. "Sleep well, Frisk." She closed the door, leaving Frisk alone with his thoughts.


	11. Spokesperson

Alphys rapped her claws together as she walked through the boiling temperatures of Hotland. Behind her, three humans followed closely, two men and a woman. They were scientists much like herself.

When scientists had first showed up at the camp, Asgore had offloaded them directly to Alphys, as she was the only one who could understand much of the complex terminology they used. Alphys had taken great pride and pleasure in showing the scientists around the Underground at some of the achievements the monsters had managed to accomplish. Today though, she was going to be showing them their most prized creation.

She gave a weary sigh. She couldn't deny that all the socializing was growing heavy on her. Thankfully, the CORE now sat just ahead of them. The scientists blinked in amazement, and Alphys knew immediately it was the machine's size they marvelled at, though she was uncertain if they had expected it to be larger or smaller.

"So, this is the machine that delivered electricity to everybody underground?" one of the scientists queried.

Alphys nodded. "Y-Yes it is! A-And i-it continues t-to do so t-today." She led the little tour inside up a flight of stairs. Directly in front of them, in the room closest to the front entrance, sat the control room. Alphys stood back to let the scientists see inside.

"T-This is the control c-center. When t-the CORE was created, all o-operations would need to be h-handled from this r-room. Today though, t-this simply serves as an observation point. A-Almost every other system in the CORE is a-automated."

One of the other scientists turned to her. "What would happen if one of these automated systems were to fail, or malfunction? With nobody there to shut it down, does that not pose a threat?"

Alphys shook her head. "A-Absolutely not! Every individual s-system has a m-minimum of two safeguards to s-shut that component down, they s-should activate automatically, but if the safeguards also fail, t-then the people in this r-room recieve an alarm, a-and they can manually override the s-systems to turn the C-CORE off safely."

The scientist chuckled. "Well, you certainly do like to keep your bases covered. How does the CORE work?"

Alphys smiled as she led the way to an elevator, stepping inside. As it whisked them up to a viewing floor, Alphys sighed, "I like to be p-prepared. We've had a w-worst case scenario happen in t-the past, we would rather prevent t-that from happening again. As for how the C-CORE works, that might sound e-easy to you. We have water piped in from rivers in the Underground directly into the CORE. F-From there, we use heat from the m-magma pools to turn the water into steam, which powers several t-turbines to generate electricity. To avoid p-pressure buildup, the excess steam is discharged via e-exhaust vents all over Hotland. We continuously pump f-fresh water in after deciding that re-using steam was too unreliable.

"We did have another incident which cause the CORE to overheat and shut down completely. B-Because of this, over in Snowdin at the other end of the Underground, t-there is an outpost where large ice blocks are t-thrown into the river. Those blocks are carried downstream and d-dropped into the CORE to aid in k-keeping it cool. There's one n-now!"

She pointed as a block of ice rolled over the lip of the conveyor belt, dropping down to the cooling systems below. The scientists were amazed.

"This is all very fascinating! To utilize the harsh climate to your benefit...if only we found more ways to do that ourselves. And you designed all of this?" one asked.

Alphys giggled. "I only w-wish I did. My predecessor, the r-royal scientist that preceded me, d-designed and oversaw its c-construction. He d-died a long time ago. I designed all of its u-u-upgrades in safety and efficiency throughout the years."

"How long has this CORE been here? The technology looks like it came from the future!" another scientist asked.

Alphys hesitated before answering. "1843, if memory serves me right."

The scientist stared at her in shock. "You're telling me that you came up with all this over 150 years ago?!"

Alphys nodded timidly.

He laughed. "Well, you're more resourceful than we ever imagined. Even today, there's nothing like this anywhere on the surface! You know, you would do quite well in the community. Why, you could even get a job in a high-up position with your intuition!"

Alphys's eyes gleamed with excitement. "R-R-Really?!" She began blushing. "I-I...I'm flattered! P-Perhaps I'll c-c-consider it."

Soon after, the scientists departed, heading for the surface. Alphys wanted to make one stop at her private lab before returning. She had grown somewhat tired of all the pestering questions, and she knew Asgore would have little time himself to answer them all. She believed she had the solution. When she eventually returned to the surface, it wasn't hard to track down Asgore.

"Your majesty!" She flagged him down just as she exited the caverns.

Asgore paused and turned around, blinking. "Doctor Alphys! Is something wrong?"

Alphys shook her head. "No, your m-majesty, far from it. In f-fact, I-I believe I have a way for us to g-get the press off our backs, if it's j-just for general questions."

Asgore was intrigued. He knew very well how intelligent Alphys could be. "Oh? Might I take a guess...some form of auto-prompter?"

She shook her head. "No. I-I...I had a friend, Mettaton. H-He uh...fell down. S-So, I figured I could make him a new b-body! His soul is that of a monster, but now h-he's got the body of a robot. I-I feel like he would be a good candidate! I finished it up j-just a few days ago. He's a-always wanted to be f-famous so...I figured this would be a-a good opportunity."

Asgore was now even more curious. "Oh! Well, do you mind if I meet him?"

But before Alphys could answer, a shrill voice called from behind them.

"Yoohoo! Alphys, darling? Are you here?" a one-wheeled robot rolled out behind them, its hands pressing against the sides of its square frame as it cried out. "Oh my! The surface truly _is_ a thing of beauty, is it not, Alphys! Ah! Your majesty! Alphys has told me soooo much about you. She practically has a crush on you!"

Alphys hid her face, now wanting nothing more than to bury herself in the ground. Asgore had an amused grin on his face.

"Mettaton, I presume?"

The robot seemed not to notice Alphys' state as he replied. "Indeed! Indeed! I must tell you, I can not _wait_ for my first chance to make statements to the public, it will be absolutely fabulous!"

Asgore chuckled. "I see. One thing I'm concerned about is history. That's something humans would want to know a good deal about, I can imagine. Thatm and our culture. Have you taken courses in school?"

The mettaton waved his hand. "Oh no, I couldn't be bothered to take those silly classes. Alphys programmed everything I need to know inside memory banks I can access!"

Asgore grinned. "Alphys, you've really outdone yourself this time. He'll be a perfect candidate!" He gave her a nudge as she looked up, her voice now just a croak.

"Thank you, your majesty…"

Mettaton sighed. "Well! If I am to be a star, I must look glamorous for my human fans. I will leave to make myself presentable at once. Ta ta!" As he began to wheel away, Asgore's face grew more uncertain.

"He said you programmed all he needed to know in cultural and history-wise, correct?"

Alphys nodded. "Indeed. D-Don't worry, I have left out any mention of...the children. What he knew already, I told him to not talk to _anyone_ about it. _Especially_ humans."

Asgore sighed with relief. "Good, good. That was my only main concern. You should be very proud. Your creations never fail to disappoint. This will be good for both of us, now we will be able to focus on more pressing matters."

Alphys nodded. "I-Indeed, your highness. H-How long are you t-thinking it will be before we g-gain citizenship?"

Asgore sighed. "Nothing certain, but I believe we are close. After that, Toriel can work on gaining custody of Frisk again. That is what you are concerned about, yes?"

Alphys nodded. "Y-Yes...you know I...I-I've only known him for a-a couple weeks but...I-I can just tell there's something that's...different a-about him, you know?"

Asgore smiled warmly. "Oh, yes. He is a very peculiar child, with a very special gift, but what that gift is I could only begin to imagine. We will have to wait and see what the future has in store for him."

Alphys nodded thoughtfully as the two friends then departed.


	12. End Of An Era

_**AUTHORS NOTE**_

**So there are going to be a few chapters uploaded today, this is a short explanation why. Chapter 11 of this story was actually written a few days ago, but I honestly completely forgot to actually upload it, since I was caught up with Internal Storms. So, that's why there's more updates coming today than usual.**

* * *

The Reston House Of Commons was busy as usual. Proceedings from today's parliament meeting had progressed smoothly. Now, there was just one more matter to discuss. Mathias stood up.

"Let us move on to the final item on today's agenda. Today, we vote on a new bill known as 'The Monster Act.' This bill will by default declare all monsters, currently camped near the base of Mount Ebott, as full citizens of Reston. This would mean that monsters would be expected to uphold the same laws, of normal, human citizens.

Within this act is a clause, outlining the details of a monster 'reserve' to be established as an extension to the township of Ebott. This is to allow for monsters to continue acting under rule of their leader, King Asgore Dreemurr. I want to make it clear now that within the reserve, his majesty would have direct command over his subjects, though he himself would still be subject to our own human laws.

A second clause in this article will address the artifacts and displays within the Reston National Museum of History. This clause outlines the return of these artifacts to the monster people. I want it to go on the record that the words that follow are my own, personal, opinion.

I plead to the members of the house that today, we make the morally right choice and vote to put this act in place. These monsters have suffered greatly during their time in exile underground. It would not be fair of us to drive them back underground. Likewise, it would not be fair of us to hold their possessions hostage in a museum. These are the possessions of monsters, some of which still live to this day. If we do not sign this act, we will be forced to send them elsewhere, which would cause its own problems, or drive them back underground. And if we do this, we will be no better than the monarchies we overthrew for that exact reason. Let us begin the vote. I pray that you will all make the right choice."

* * *

Frisk scrambled into the living room, the television having just been turned on. News had been covering the important vote taking place today, and everybody all over the town had been anxious to hear for a variety of reasons. He grabbed the remote, other children in the orphanage milling around as he turned the volume up as the news program started.

"Good afternoon, we start today with breaking news from the Reston House of Commons, where a new bill was voted on just earlier today, which may change your life as you know it. Holly Vincent is on the scene." The shot moved to a reporter standing outside the parliament building.

"Thank you, Janice! I'm standing just outside the House of Commons where just minutes ago, a vote concluded, marking true history! The Monster Act was just passed officially, marking monsters as full citizens of Reston." Frisk let out a joyous shout, before listening again to the reporter. "The act has granted the monsters permission to construct a reserve to live on, on the outskirts of the local town Ebott. Despite extremely mixed opinions, this construction is already well underway, and in some areas, nearing completion. It is expected that within the next two months, monsters will be moving into your communities."

The shot then moved to a few minutes prior, showing Asgore, dressed in more ceremonial robes, and Mathias in one of his sharpest suits. Both signed the bottom of the act, and turned to each other, clasping hands before waving at the gathered audience as cameras flashed.

A moment later, Asgore turned around, walking into the back with Mathias where he sighed.

"So, that is that, then," he spoke.

Mathias nodded. "Indeed. Let's go look at the construction for the reserves, shall we? I know you have been eagerly waiting to look at the progress."

Asgore nodded. "Yes, of course, let us be off."

They both climbed into the back of Mathias's car, and the driver set off, driving back to Ebott where the construction waited for them.

"Oh, your majesty, about the artifacts? I do apologize I could not secure the other artifacts, but they are located in other countries where I have no power. I will be working hard to try and retrieve them for you."

Asgore shook his head with a smile. "You managed to get us what is here, in Reston. That is a good enough start for me."

Mathias cleared his throat. "I also took the liberty of getting you a seat on the Prime Summit, the council of leaders you originally appeared to. I will warn you, you likely won't be treated as having the same status as other world leaders, and issues you present might be given lesser priority, but it's the best I could do."

Asgore was stunned. "I'm still surprised you went to the effort of getting a seat for me there in the first place! I can only say thank you dearly, Minister Hemmingway." There was a good bit of silence among the group as they drew closer to Ebott, soon pulling up on the streets under construction. Asgore stepped out, gazing around.

Over two hundred homes had been constructed, as workers had worked tirelessly day and night for the past six months to get the reserve built. The months since hearing of the monster act had been tiring as Mathias had continued to fight with the Prime Summit, and his own parliament to get the bill passed, and set up a refugee program internationally. Kara had finally come through for Estines, and arrangements could now be made for monsters to safely cross the border. He nodded with satisfaction as he inspected the rows of homes. He couldn't wait to sleep in a real bed again.

Mathias spoke behind him. "If you so desire, you and your people can also set up places of business on the reserve. Might draw in tourists though I'll warn."

Both of them chuckled. They were interrupted as Asgore's phone started buzzing.

He answered it, putting it to his ear. "Hello?" His smile vanished, a deep frown replacing it. "I'll be right there." He hung up, turning around to Mathias.

"I need to get back to the camp, it's urgent."

Mathias nodded, standing aside. "Oh! Of course, we can finish this inspection later. All the best."

Asgore nodded before sprinting into the forest off the construction site to take a shortcut back to the camp. It took him only half an hour before he ran into the camp. Toriel was waiting anxiously for him, and Asgore didn't even notice Frisk had just arrived as well.

"Where is he?"

She pointed to one of the tents. Asgore pulled the flap aside, walking in. Undyne was knelt over Gerson, the turtle giving a shaky cough as he laid back.

"Ahhh! There he is." The monster gave a weak chuckle. Asgore smiled warmly as he too crouched by his old friend.

"Hello Gerson. Is...it time?"

Gerson nodded slowly, reaching his arms out. "Help an old fool up, would ye? I want to see one more sunset before I go." Asgore and Undyne each took an arm, helping him up. Outside, Frisk watched as they helped Gerson out of the tent. He walked forward to help, but Toriel pulled him back. Frisk looked up at her and she shook her head, speaking quietly.

"Frisk, Gerson is very, very old. He has been alive since long before the war. We believe today will be his last day with us."

Frisk tried to pull away. "I want to be there with him! Make sure he has as many friends around him as possible!"

Toriel shook her head sadly. "I know you want to, but not today. Undyne and Asgore are Gerson's closest friends. He practically helped raise Undyne when she was a child from what I have heard, even helped her get into the Royal Guard. He also served under Asgore, and Asgrid before him, for a very, very long time. Asgore and Gerson are some of the closets friends you may ever see. We should let him spend his final moments along with them in peace."

Frisk nodded in understanding. Up ahead, the two helped the elderly monster ascend the narrow trail leading up the mountain to a plateau further up above the treeline, overlooking the valley. Gerson grunted as he sat back against the rock face with a sigh, watching as the sun lowered itself, just touching the horizon. Gerson had a tear in his eye.

"I...I never realized just how beautiful th' sun looks, heh…"

Asgore nodded. "We all took for granted how wonderful the surface is, until we found ourselves sealed below ground." There was silence as they continued to stare off to the horizon.

Asgore sighed, "Gerson, you are one of the best friends I could have hoped for. You saved my life more than once in the war. I'm happy you are able to spend your last moments with us in peace."

Gerson nodded, his voice raspy. "As am I, Asgore. I...I was beginnin' to think I would never see the sun...or the stars again…" He looked up at the sky at one gleaming constellation staring down at them as the stars began to flicker on like street lights in the night.

"But...I have joy knowing I will have another friend to guide me to the world beyond."

Asgore followed his gaze to the stars, shaking his head, still mesmerized by the beauty of them. A burning question finally escaped from Undyne's lips, and even Asgore was surprised by the seriousness of it.

"Are you afraid, Gerson? Of dying?"

Gerson shook his head. "Oh goodness no. I have seen many things in this life of mine. I am eager to go on one final adventure." They chuckled at the reply. Gerson then turned his head to Asgore.

"Asgore...when I'm gone...I want you to open a museum with all those artifacts. Make sure our history is not forgotten, you hear? You can put any belongings of mine into the museum if you want. I'm sure some humans would find it interesting. And...I want my dust to be tossed right here to the wind. I want to be able to travel the world when I am gone..."

He winked, and Asgore chuckled with a nod. "I will, old friend, don't worry."

Gerson's voice began to grow faint as his eyes slowly closed. "You're a good friend...both of you...you're both...very good friends...hmmmmmm…" His voice trailed off as his breathing slowed, and then ceased. His body gently disintegrated into dust, starting from the feet and moving up to his head. There, he lay, just a pile of dust. Asgore glanced to Undyne, for the first time seeing tears in her eyes.

They watched as the gentlest of breezes picked up the dust, carrying it out to the wind, and the world beyond. Asgore looked up at the stars once again. In the middle of the organized chaos in the sky, he could have sworn that another had joined their ranks, shining just as bright.


	13. Epilogue

Toriel stared at the judge as he once more looked over the dozens of papers laid out before him. Frisk sat in one of the many empty rows of benches, shuffling uncomfortably. The judge took his glasses off, letting his open hands face her.

"Miss Dreemurr, as I have told you before, I have no issues with you opening up a school in the reserve. I think it's a wonderful idea for humans and monsters to learn together! Helps strengthen friendships! But the problem that I see is, how would you draw in human students in the first place? What can you teach, that isn't being taught already at the other public schools, which are much closer to these human children?"

Toriel gave a weary sigh. She was tired of all these court processes. "It is as I have said your honor, I can teach students of our heritage. Our history! I assure you that once classes begin, I will have no difficulty in drawing in students." Even Toriel knew she was being overly confident, but she wanted this to work.

The judge sighed, shaking his head. "I will say I have my skepticism, but at the same time, I can't find any reason to deny the request. You will be permitted to open a public school for humans and monsters alike, so long as you can be ready to accept applications for your school by January of 2021, approximately twelve months from now."

Toriel heaved a sigh of relief, as the judge continued to speak. "That brings us to this last issue. It is to my understanding that you have been trying to adopt Frisk Carroway for nearly seven weeks now, correct?"

Toriel nodded. "That is correct, your honor. For seven weeks I have been trying to adopt Frisk, and have been pushed around from one courtroom to another."

The judge looked sympathetic. "Well, adoption cases often take time. Yours is particularly unusual, so I can only apologize for the trouble you've been put through. Though at the same time, you must understand why those other judges were likely very hesitant to allow you to adopt Frisk. I mean, just earlier this year we discovered that you monsters weren't all dead as we believed, and not even two months ago you gained citizenship!"

Toriel huffed. "I do understand this, but that does not make this any less frustrating."

He nodded slowly. "Indeed. Well, let us try to speed the process along then, and perhaps we will get you your answer today. Before we can allow you to adopt young Frisk, I need to ensure some things. Would he have a proper home? With food, water, electricity, bedding, and other items he may need?"

She nodded. "He would." She had just moved into her home in the reserve last week.

"Should he have any problem at all, are you a safe person that he can confide in no matter the time of day?"

She nodded again. "But of course!"

The judge put his glasses back on, and looked down at the papers again before looking up.

"Do you have the skills, and knowledge it takes to care for a child?"

Toriel now looked offended. "Your honor, with all due respect, I have been a queen before, with not one, but two children."

The judge raised his eyebrows. "Really! So, young Frisk would have siblings?"

Immediately Frisk cringed at the question, seeing Toriel's ears droop slightly. "N...No he wouldn't. My children both...passed away."

The judge closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "My condolences. If I may ask, what was the nature of their deaths?"

Frisk knew what the question was for. He was asking if Toriel was responsible for their deaths. He wouldn't allow her to be bullied. He stood up from the bench, much to the judge's surprise.

"Why does that matter?! She's a very good monster! When I fell into the Underground, she saved my _life_! She's the _only_ person that has _ever _cared for me like a parent, and I'm starting to think nobody else will be able to care the way she does! She hasn't done anything to deserve all this hassle!"

The judge was silent, and even Toriel was surprised at the sudden outburst, turning to stare at him with wide eyes. Frisk sat back down timidly.

"Sorry."

The judge cleared his throat. "No, it is quite alright. You feel passionately about this subject, as you should. Miss Dreemurr, is it true that you saved his life?"

She nodded. "While I think he exaggerates a little, he was badly injured when he fell down into the mountain. I healed him as best as I could, and kept him warm and fed while his body took care of the rest." She sighed as she thought back to a distant memory. "Having experience as a field nurse does have its benefits."

The judge nodded. "I see. Well. If everything you say is true, and so far I believe you, then I see no reason to say no to the adoption. It is evident that Frisk wants to stay with you, which always makes these cases easier. So, if both of you are willing, then I will need you to sign this."

He handed an adoption form to the bailiff who first handed a pen to Toriel to sign it, then Frisk to do the same. Frisk just put his initials, still not sure how to quite write the fancy signature Toriel delivered. The bailiff handed the form back to the judge who took out a circular stamp, planting it on the top right corner.

"There we are! Toriel Dreemurr, as of this moment you are the official adopted parent and legal guardian of Frisk Carroway. Should anything happen to him, you would be held responsible. Understood?"

Toriel nodded, a beaming smile on her face. "I do, your honor. Thank you." Frisk ran to her and the two shared a deep hug. Once more Frisk found himself melting into her warmth, much to the judge's delight. Then, the two of them walked out of the courtroom, hand in hand.

* * *

_**AUTHORS NOTE**_

**Another chapter of Undertale: Chronicle is away in the books. But even though everything seems fine now...the real story has only just begun.**


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